Organic Diet Protect Kids from Neurological Ills

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Misty L. Trepke

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Organic diet protects children from neurological ills

Laurie Budgar

 

9/7/2005 3:24:31 PM

 

Children who eat an organic diet are protected from exposure to at

least two of the most common agricultural pesticides, according to a

report published last week.

 

In a study conducted in 2003, a group of 23 children aged 3-11 ate

their normal diets for the first three days. During the next five

days, they ate organic replacements of the fresh fruit and vegetables,

juices, processed foods and corn-based foods in their usual diet. In

the final week of the study, the children resumed their conventional

diets. Researchers examined the children " s daily urine output and

found that all 23 had metabolites of malathion and chlorpyrifos when

they enrolled in the study. However, as soon as they switched to

organic diets, these metabolites were not detectable in their urine,

and remained at zero levels until conventional foods were

reintroduced.

 

" We were able to demonstrate that an organic diet provides a dramatic

and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus

pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural production, " the

authors wrote in their report, published Sept. 1 in the National

Institutes of Health " s online version of Environmental Health

Perspectives. " Although we did not collect health outcome data in this

study, it is intuitive to assume that children whose diets consist of

organic food items would have a lower probability of neurological

health risks. "

 

According to the report, OP pesticides cause neurological effects in

animals and humans. But, if they " re eliminated from the body so

quickly after beginning an organic diet, how dangerous are the

pesticides in food? " We do not know whether the relatively short

biological half-lives for the organophosphorous pesticides in the

human body would actually cause less toxicity than other groups of

pesticides with longer half-lives, " said Chensheng " Alex " Lu, the lead

researcher. " The chronic toxicity due to persistent lower-level

exposure to OP pesticides is relatively unknown and not well studied

yet, " Lu said. " Some recent studies have suggested that pesticide

exposure may act as the precursor to some neurological diseases, such

as Parkinsonism, [where] the clinical symptoms would only show up in

later life. "

 

Chlorpyrifos was used extensively in residential termite-control

products and pet flea collars until such applications were banned in

late 2001. It continues to be widely used in corn, apple, orange,

almond and walnut crops.