Conscious Eating: Second Edition by Cousens Md Gabriel

Author:Cousens Md, Gabriel
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2009-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

‘90s Update on Pesticide Use

SINCE THE FIRST EDITION OF Conscious Eating, the tide of pesticide and herbicide use has continued to increase rather than ebb. The following data come from a report in Pesticide Action Network published by Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR). In California, which uses 25% of all the pesticides in the US, the trend is toward an increasing use and dependence on toxic pesticides and herbicides. California literally puts hundreds of millions of pounds of chemicals on our crops, soil, water, homes, schools, and work places each year. The environmental protection laws simply are not strong enough. Six and one-half pounds of pesticides per person are used in California, which is more than double the national average of 3.1 pounds per person.

Pesticide use in California increased 31% from 1991 to 1995, a jump from 161 to 212 million pounds per year. The increase occurred primarily in the intensity of pesticides per acre as the number of agricultural acres stayed about the same. The use of cancer-causing pesticides rose 129%—to more than twenty-three million pounds—what is now 11% of the total pesticide use in the state. Use of acutely toxic nerve poisons increased 52% to about nine million pounds. The use of restricted pesticides—those which regularly cause damage to people, crops, and the environment—increased 34% to forty-eight million pounds in 1995. The total volume of carcinogens, reproductive hazards, endocrine disrupters, category I acute systemic poisons, category II nerve toxins, and restricted-use toxins increased 32% between 1991 and 1995. This is approximately seventy-two million pounds, or 34% of the total reported pesticide use. Strawberries and grapes were the two most heavily pesticided crops. Strawberries received about three hundred pounds of active pesticides per acre, and grapes received a total of fifty-nine million pounds of pesticides in 1995.

A report by Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR) shows that 87% of the forty-six California school districts surveyed used highly toxic pesticides in their routine building and lawn maintenance. These forty-six districts serve one and one-half million children. Seventy percent of these school districts used suspected carcinogens; 52% used pesticides that are known to cause birth defects or impair normal mental and physical development; 50% used pesticides suspected of disrupting the human hormonal system; and 54% used nerve toxins. This data was typically unavailable to parents, teachers, and the public. CPR had to use legal counsel to obtain these simple data.

According to the Environmental Working Group, every day one million US children under the age of five consume unsafe levels of pesticides that are known to harm their developing brain and nervous system. An analysis of the federal information is that most of the risk comes from five organophosphate insecticides: methyl parathion, dimethoate, pirimiphos methyl, and azinphos methyl. The foods most likely to contain toxic levels are peaches, apples, nectarines, popcorn, and pears. The baby foods most likely to have unsafe levels are pears, peaches, and apple juice. This study found that approximately one in four peaches and one out of eight apples had levels of organophosphates that are unsafe for children.

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