PESTICIDES AND PREGNANCY: NEW RESEARCH CAUSES CONCERN

Apples are sprayed with up to 48 pesticides, which detectable even after ten seconds of washing with water. Does this matter?

Conventional wisdom says no – the levels are very much within the permitted range. Tests find that a tiny percentage of foods – usually around 3% - fall outside the rules. These foods either have levels slightly above legal limits or have traces of disallowed pesticides.

New research however, has thrown something of a shadow over the safety of pesticides. Or, at least, it would cast such a shadow if anyone was paying attention to it.

Three studies published in the August 2011 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives found negative developmental effects in children who's mothers had eaten foods with traces of pesticides on them while pregnant. And these mothers were within the bounds of normal exposure to pesticides.

Not only is this the top ranking monthly academic journal in public, environmental, and occupational health, the three studies all use what is called a longitudinal birth cohort: in other words, tests began in the womb and continued at set intervals for months and years. Two of the studies tested from in utero to seven years, the third to nine years.

What the studies found was that decrements in full-scale IQ, working memory, and perceptual reasoning showed the most consistent associations with prenatal exposure to a common class of pesticides, organophosphates.

According to the journal's editorial, by Kimberly Gray and Cindy P. Lawler, “comparability of these results, despite differences in populations and exposure metrics, underscores the robustness of this latest group of findings.”

The editors also described the longitudinal cohort as “a design well suited to detect the evolution of exposure effects over time. Accordingly, the latest findings build on previous data from these birth cohorts showing relationships between prenatal OP pesticide exposure levels and developmental end points in the first 3 years of life”.

Bouchard (et al 2011), one of the three new studies referred to, also draws attention to poorer scores for processing speed and verbal comprehension in the children studied, as well as the IQ, memory and reasoning issues already outlined.

And the higher the traces of organophosphates the worse the score: Children in the category corresponding to the highest 20% of traces of organophosphates during pregnancy showed a 7-point decrease in full scale IQ compared with children of mothers in the lowest 20%. (Bouchard et al 2011.)

Importantly however, those with the highest traces were within the range of levels measured in the general population.

What do the authorities in Ireland make of this research? I spoke to the Department of Health and Children. They suggested that, despite the topic of my query being about the health of children, the query was more one for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Department of Agriculture “advised us that pesticide residues in food in Ireland and other European countries are controlled by European legislation, specifically Regulation 396 of 2005. Residues are controlled by maximum residue levels ( MRLs) that should not be exceeded for individual pesticides.”

“These MRLs are set following extensive evaluation of all currently available scientific knowledge by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), whose most critical commitment is the provision of objective and independent science-based advice which underpins the European food safety system and provides the foundation for European policy and legislation. MRLs established in EU legislation are considered safe for all Irish and European consumers. “

Interestingly, however, they also said that the following: “All relevant new scientific information/data will be independently evaluated by EFSA and inform policies on consumer protection as appropriate. The existence of this new information will be raised with the EU Commission at a meeting on the 9th of December with a view to requesting EFSA to evaluate these studies. The EFSA assessment of these studies will guide any responses taken at EU level in response to these study findings.”

(Italics added above, as I think that's a really important point!)

So who knows? Perhaps in some months the advice on pesticides may change. In the meantime, the official advice is that pesticide residues are safe.

I also spoke to some growers about this new research. They were keen to point out the organophosphates are used in US agriculture not in Ireland.

Of course, the consumer encounters more than just Irish produce in the local supermarket: indeed, Ireland imports about E5billion worth of food each year. Of this, up to E1 billion is on fruits and vegetables. Not just US produce,but produce from an an increasingly globalised food system is available.

As the rules on pesticides get stricter and stricter in the EU and to an extent other developed countries like the US, a vicious circle of sorts develops. EU and US companies sell the pesticides they can no longer sell at home, to developing world countries. We then import food produced using pesticides banned in the EU, into the EU.

Meanwhile, Irish growers have to try to compete with this produce grown to what is essentially a different standard, while devleoping world producers, regions and the environment have to deal with the consequences of these far stronger pesticides.

In our daily food choices, we have decisions to make. And in light of this recent research some consumers may decide that, on balance, its worth going for the organic option. At least with the imports.

Editorial is here

ENDS

REFERENCES

Bouchard MF, Chevrier J, Harley KG, Kogut K, Vedar M, Calderon N, et al. (2011). Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides and IQ in 7-year old children. Environmental Health Perspectives 119:1189–1195

Engel SM, Wetmur J, Chen J, Zhu C, Barr DB, Canfield RL, et al. 2011. Prenatal exposure to organophosphates, paraoxonase 1, and cognitive development in childhood. Environmental Health Perspectives 119:1182–1188

Environmental Working Group 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Available at

Gray K, Lawler CP, (2011) Strength in Numbers:  Three Separate Studies Link in Utero Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Cognitive Development. Environmental Health Perspectives 119(8)

Rauh V, Arundjadai S, Horton M, Perera F, Hoepner L, Barr DB, et al. (2011). Seven-year neurodevelopmental scores and prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos, a common agricultural pesticide. Environmental Health Perspectives 119:1196–1201.

That's our discussion regarding PESTICIDES AND PREGNANCY: NEW RESEARCH CAUSES CONCERN

that's all organic foot formula PESTICIDES AND PREGNANCY: NEW RESEARCH CAUSES CONCERN, I hope this article was useful for you.

You 're reading an article PESTICIDES AND PREGNANCY: NEW RESEARCH CAUSES CONCERN and this article permalink is https://organic-food-formula.blogspot.com/2012/02/pesticides-and-pregnancy-new-research.html I hope this article about was useful for you.