Study Indicates Organic Foods Are Best for Children

By Marla Cone
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 2, 2005

Read the full study here
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8418/8418.pdf

Switching to organic foods provides children "dramatic and immediate"
protection from widely used pesticides that are used on a variety of
crops, according to a new study by a team of federally funded
scientists.

Concentrations of two organophosphate pesticides --malathion and
chlorpyrifos -- declined substantially in the bodies of
elementary-school age children during a five-day period when organic
foods were substituted for conventional foods.

The two chemicals are the most commonly used insecticides in U.S.
agriculture. More than 2 million pounds were applied to California crops
in 2003, according to records of the state Department of Pesticide
Regulation.

The health effects of exposure to minute amounts of pesticides found in
food are largely unknown, especially for children. Some research,
however, suggests that the residue may harm the developing nervous
system.

For 15 days, a team of environmental health scientists from the
University of Washington, Emory University and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention tested the urine of 23 elementary-school age
children in the Seattle area.

During the first three days and last seven days, the children ate their
normal foods. But during the middle five days, organic items were
substituted for most of their diet, including fruits, vegetables, juices
and wheat and corn-based processed items such as cereal and pasta.

Average levels of both pesticides in the children "decreased to the
non-detect levels immediately after the introduction of organic diets
and remained non-detectable until the conventional diets were
reintroduced," the researchers reported Thursday in the online version
of the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives
<">http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8418/8418.pdf> .

When they ate organic foods, the children on average had zero malathion
detected in their urine, with a high of 7 parts per billion in one
child.

But when the children returned to eating conventional foods, one child
had as much as 263 ppb and the average increased to 1.6 ppb.

For chlorpyrifos, the children had less than one part per billion when
they ate organic foods, but the average increased five-fold as soon as
they returned to their previous diet.

The findings suggest that children are exposed to organophosphate
chemicals mainly through food, not through spraying in homes or other
sources. In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned most
residential uses of chlorpyrifos but has left most agricultural uses
unrestricted.

Three other organophosphate pesticides that are not widely used on farms
and are more highly restricted by the EPA were undetectable in most of
the children, according to the study, directed by Emory University's Dr.
Chensheng Lu.

"In conclusion," the researchers wrote, "we were able to demonstrate
that an organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect
against exposure to organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used
in agricultural production."

Margaret Reeves, a staff scientist at the San Francisco-based Pesticide
Action Network North America, said the findings are "not surprising
because we know that food is an important source of (organophosphate)
exposure.

Also, we know that these pesticides don't last very long ... in the
body, and you can have a relatively quick response" to a diet change.

Pesticide manufacturers say that while low levels of residue are
detectable on many products, there is no evidence that children are
harmed by them.

They say that pesticides, which are the most highly tested and regulated
chemicals in the United States, are vital to providing an affordable and
plentiful world food supply.

But Reeves said the children's study "is a pretty strong argument that
(organic food) is a good way to go, if you have access to it and can
afford it."

Organic foods can be expensive and sometimes difficult to find. But
parents can minimize their children's exposure if they substitute
organic products for those that contain the most residue. Experts advise
parents to wash produce and peel skins if they buy conventional foods
but for foods that cannot be peeled, such as grapes and strawberries,
organic may be a wise choice.

In the late 1990s, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed that
nearly three-quarters of foods sampled from conventionally grown crops
contained pesticide residue, while 23 percent of organic products did.

The Consumers Union reported in 2000 that peaches, apples, pears,
grapes, green beans, spinach, winter squash, strawberries and cantaloupe
had the highest levels of pesticide residues. Those with few residues
included bananas, broccoli, canned peaches, canned or frozen peas,
canned or frozen corn, milk, orange juice, apple juice and grape juice.

Read the full study here
<">http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/8418/8418.pdf>
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