What are Pesticides?
Pesticides are chemical or biological agents that are used to protect crops from insects, weeds, and infections. Acutely toxic organophosphate (OP) pesticides are widely used in the United States.
What crops are pesticides used on?
Pesticides are used on fruits, vegetables, wheat, rice, olives and canola pressed into oil,and on non-food crops such as cotton, grass, and flowers. The OP pesticides malathion and chlorpyrifos are commonly used on all fruits, vegetables, and wheat. Pesticides are used on crops that are fed to animals, although residue from pesticides is generally not found in meat or dairy products.
How do people get exposed to pesticides?
The most common way most infants, children and adults are exposed to pesticides is by eating them on and in our food. Workers in agriculture and occupational settings touch and breathe in pesticides, putting them at risk for acute and chronic poisoning.
What are the health risks?
Most studies of the health effects of pesticides have focused on occupationally exposed people, like farmworkers and pesticide applicators. Acute OP pesticide poisonings result in symptoms like nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety and confusion, which can be quite severe but are often reversible. There have also been many studies in groups of people who work with pesticides but who have not experienced acute poisonings serious enough to result in these kinds of symptoms. These studies have found that chronic, lower dose exposure is associated with respiratory problems, memory disorders, skin conditions, depression, miscarriage,
birth defects, cancer and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. There have been fewer studies of people without known occupational exposures, but one study with a nationally representative sample showed increasing odds of ADD/ADHD for 8-15 year olds with increasing levels of OP pesticides metabolites in urine.1
Who is most at risk?
Fetuses, infants, growing children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and women of childbearing age are most at risk for badverse health outcomes from exposure to pesticides. Children are more at risk than adults because children eat more relative to their body weight than adults eat. Exposures during vulnerable periods of development can be particularly dangerous. These vulnerable periods include fetal development, infancy, early childhood, and puberty. Fetuses are exposed to pesticides through the mother’s diet. Infants are exposed through breast milk.
Acute poisoning is a persistent problem among agricultural and occupational workers who handle pesticides and track them into their homes where family members get exposed. People who live near agricultural fields may be exposed by drift from aerial spraying.
Studies show eating an organic diet can reduce children’s exposure to pesticides
Studies have found that children who eat conventional diets have significantly higher levels of OP pesticide metabolites in their urine than do children who eat organic diets.4 In one study5, children were switched from conventional to organic diets. Urinary concentration of the OP pesticide metabolite immediately dropped so low it was undetectable. When a conventional diet resumed, urine concentration of the OP
metabolite increased to previous levels. When organic produce is available and affordable, buying organic is a relatively easy way for parents to reduce children’s exposure to OP pesticides.
How can I protect myself and my family?
The health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables are well established. A diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with lower rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. The USDA recommends that half the food on your plate be fruits and vegetables.ⶠSince rinsing conventional produce does not wash away all pesticide residue, eating an organic diet is the best way to reduce your exposure to pesticides. In addition, avoiding conventional insect and weed killers in and around your home will reduce your exposure.
