From sjmoore@interlog.comTue Mar 26 10:15:08 1996 Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 08:18:11 -0500 From: Steven Moore To: sustag-public@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Help! Need opinions on Pesticides In article <4ir1qq$fbq@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, rednecksd@aol.com (Redneck SD) wrote: > Absolutly! With present technology, concerning organic farming, there is > little doubt, as to the effect of reduction, or elimination of pesticides. There is little doubt, but not not what you think. "In 1948, at the dawn of the chemical age, American farmers used 15 million pounds of insecticides and lost seven per cent of their crops to insects; today they use 125 million pounds and lose 13 percent." Quote from an article in The Atlantic Monthly called Back to Eden by Evan Eisenberg in November 1989. The article was mainly about Wes Jackson, The Land Institute, Salina, Kansas. An increase in pecticide use has corresponded with an increase in crop loss. > In my opinion, recent strides in yield per acre in feed grains, have been > due in part through fine-tuning pesticides by producers. Crop yield increases are due to improved varieties and chemical fertilizer overloading. >Any and all, > pesticides on the market today have been thouroughly tested and retested > to ensure their safety and environmental soundness. About pesticide testing: To register a pesticide, manufacturers must gain approval from the appropriate U.S. Regulartory agencies. However,the agencies, lacking independent testing facilities, rely on data supplied by the manufacturers. Manufacturers typically hire laboratories to test their formulations. Because an effective pesticide is worth millions of dollars, there is a temptation to fudge the tests. This is exactly what happened in 1976 when Industrial Biotest was found guilty of falsifying test data for over 200 pesticides. Proper studies won9t be completed until sometime in the 21st century, meanwhile none of the pesticides in question have been withdrawn from use. These studies only involve the active ingredients designed to kill. Other ingredients, which help dissolve, dilute, or stabilise the active killers are exempt from testing because they are regarded as 3proprietary trade secrets2 by U.S. governments more interested in protecting the profits of multinational corporations than the health of Americans. 800 of these ingredients have insufficient health and safety data. About allowable pesticide limits on food: The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental research organization which is a project of the Tides Foundation in California, has conducted pesticide tests for 54 out of the hundreds of pesticides registered for use on food. In a published document titled 3Pesticides in Children9s Food2, they found that children commonly eat pieces of fruits and vegetables containing five or more pesticides. Using supermarket samples, EWG found two or more pesticides in 62% of oranges, 44% of apples, and 25% of cherries, peaches, strawberries, celery, pears, grapes and lettuce. EWG found eight pesticides in one apple sample, seven in an orange, six in a strawberry and peach, and five in a carrot, grape, pear, and leaf of lettuce. Because the Canadian and U.S. allowed level of pesticides in food is based on adult eating habits, the EWG concluded, 3for the average child the acceptable lifetime level of risk is exceeded by age one.2 Cheers...Steven Steven Moore, Writer sjmoore@interlog.com "It's great to be considered working when you're staring out the window."