Pesticide residues in children eating organic and conventional foods

[Guest guest]

This is going to be the last thing I post on this subject (or I might

get in trouble with Donna!) :>)

 

Preschool kids eating conventional foods had 6 times the pesticide

residue in their bodies as kids eating organic foods. The authors of

the study conclude that " Consumption of organic produce appears to

provide a relatively simple way for parents to reduce their

children's exposure to OP pesticides. " So, eating organic DOES make

a BIG difference!!!

 

Here is the article abstract:

-----------------------------

Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban preschool

children with organic and conventional diets.

 

by Cynthia L. Curl , Richard A. Fenske , Kai Elgethun

 

We assessed organophosphorus (OP) pesticide exposure from diet by

biological monitoring among Seattle, Washington, preschool children.

Parents kept food diaries for 3 days before urine collection, and

they distinguished organic and conventional foods based on label

information. Children were then classified as having consumed either

organic or conventional diets based on analysis of the diary data.

Residential pesticide use was also recorded for each home. We

collected 24-hr urine samples from 18 children with organic diets and

21 children with conventional diets and analyzed them for five OP

pesticide metabolites. We found significantly higher median

concentrations of total dimethyl alkylphosphate metabolites than

total diethyl alkylphosphate metabolites (0.06 and 0.02 [micro]mol/L,

respectively; p = 0.0001). The median total dimethyl metabolite

concentration was approximately six times higher for children with

conventional diets than for children with organic diets (0.17 and

0.03 [micro]mol/L; p = 0.0003); mean concentrations differed by a

factor of nine (0.34 and 0.04 [micro]mol/L). We calculated dose

estimates from urinary dimethyl metabolites and from agricultural

pesticide use data, assuming that all exposure came from a single

pesticide. The dose estimates suggest that consumption of organic

fruits, vegetables, and juice can reduce children's exposure levels

from above to below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's

current guidelines, thereby shifting exposures from a range of

uncertain risk to a range of negligible risk. Consumption of organic

produce appears to provide a relatively simple way for parents to

reduce their children's exposure to OP pesticides. Key words:

biological monitoring, dialkylphosphates, diet, organic,

organophosphorus pesticides, preschool children, produce. Environ

Health Perspect 111:377-382 (2003). doi:10.1289/ehp.5754 available

via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 31 October 2002]