Pesticide Perspective: Eating Organic. Should You Care?

Pesticide Perspective: Eating Organic. Should You Care?

Pesticides. Should we fear them? Does  an Organic diet eliminate them? Have there been studies to prove the cumulative effect of these chemicals on our bodies and the health of our children? Is it worth the money to buy organic produce for my family.

Opinion from: 

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC
Clinical Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Wayne State University School of Medicine

If life were ideal, we would consume food contaminated with as little pesticide as possible. Pesticides have been classified as probable carcinogens for 25 years and have been associated with different kinds of cancers in certain workers, although they are exposed to much higher levels than found on our food.

The fact that organic fruits and vegetables have lower residues of pesticides is well known. For example, researchers in Australia studied 13 volunteers who ate a conventional diet for one week and more than 80 percent organic foods for another week. Urinary levels of pesticides fell by 89 percent to 96 percent on the organic diet.

In a different analysis of a family of five in Sweden, urine levels of pesticides fell by over 90 percent when the family’s diet shifted from conventional to organic, and the decrease was greatest in the children. 1

Here’s a list of the pesticides (or plant protectors as they are sometimes referred to in the report) that were found in the family’s bodies:
MPCA (herbicide)
Ethylenebisdithiocarbamates (fungicide)
Atrazine (herbicide)
Chlorpyrifos (insecticide)
Thiabendazole, iprodione, diuron, vinclozolin (fungicides)
Boscalid (fungacide)
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (herbicides)
Pyrethroids, such as cypermethrin and esfenvalerate (insecticides)
Propamocarb (fungicide)
Chlormequat chloride (CCC) and mepequat (growth inhibitors)
Note: in some cases the testing was on metabolites of the original chemical compound.

It’s clear from the experiment that eating organic significantly reduces the load of pesticides carried in your body.

But should you care? Have you seen this resource? http://www.whatsonmyfood.org

Organic foods do NOT eliminate chemicals but it DOES SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THEM in our bodies.

The Conclusion of the report was: 

Choosing organic foods not only reduces the levels of a number of pesticides that we are exposed to through what we eat, but also reduces the risk of a long-term impact and combination effects.
IVL Report U 5080 Human exposure to pesticides from food
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 We also help to reduce the spread of chemicals in the environment, and protect those who work in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables. Considering that in our day-to-day lives we are exposed to a considerable number of other chemical substances depending on our choices of food, cleaning products, shampoo, furniture, and other items, it is difficult to make a complete assessment of how much the total chemical load decreased.

Soon after the video detailing the findings was released the Co-op who produced the study was sued.

Does that make their finding wrong or invalid?

Is the law suit self serving?

Do you believe a larger study is warranted that has better controls and a larger sampling of individuals/foods and pesticides/herbicides and insecticides reviewed?

RESOURCES:

Articles:
 1 https://www.verywell.com/buying-and-eating-organic-4140466 

2 https://www.treehugger.com/family/swedes-show-how-eating-organic-nearly-eliminates-your-pesticide-load.html

REPORT: https://www.coop.se/contentassets/dc9bd9f95773402997e4aca0c11b8274/coop-ekoeffekten_rapport_eng.pdf

Report on Lawsuit: https://debunkingdenialism.com/2016/05/31/coop-sued-for-misleading-the-organic-effect-marketing-campaign/

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