What To Do About Legacy & Circumstantial Pesticides in Organic?

Rachel Tobin’s 2014 published research on available, mostly imported, fruits and vegetables in retail outlets in Ireland, found “a similar number of organic (15) and conventional (17) samples tested positive for detectable (pesticide) residues”.  However “the number of residues detected was higher in conventional (43) than in organic (29), and the concentration of these residues were significantly higher.”

According to an interview I conducted with Professor Charles Benbrook (which I will be posting elsewhere in a couple of weeks) this sort of light contamination can indeed occur. He cited the example of legacy and circumstantial/environmental pesticide residues. These can be persistent in the soil even after they are banned or discontinued. Likewise, packing houses which are not dedicated to organic only packing, inevitably carry small amounts of pesticides (specifically fungicide) residues. This effect disappears if and when the packing house goes fully organic) contamination. And this is why the most important point is that of concentration (i.e. levels, or amount of pesticides), not so much the the number of samples.

But what are the implications of the new additional organic certification rules stipulating that 5% of organic operators must have their produce sampled? What impact will this additional inspection type have on these operators if traces of legacy pesticides are found?

Legacy pesticides are persistent pesticides which don’t break down in the soil easily or quickly. These can be banned pesticides from decades ago, which can show up in any food, including sometimes in organic food. Traces can also be found in the machinery, equipment and walls of packing houses which carry both organic and conventional produce.

As the organic sector matures, dedicated organic packing houses will be developed for produce. Experience abroad suggests that once these dedicated packing houses are developed, within months, the problem largely disappears. Check Benbrook makes an intriguing  anti-conventionalisation argument on his blog re Wal-Mart and organic, in outlining this and other related points. 

Helen Scully of the Organic Trust told me “the Organic Trust recognises that some pesticides remain in the soil many years after they were applied to the land. The purpose of the (new) sampling and testing regime... is to assess the current practices being carried out by organic farmers. To this end the Organic Trust Ltd have designed their sampling and testing procedures in a way that assesses the current practices of the farmers involved.”

She added that a log of inputs (a field history) for two years prior to entry to conversion must be supplied by potential organic operators. “This information is reviewed in the overall context of previous land use and any concerns highlighted regarding previous pesticide use are referred to the Certification Panel on a case by case basis. Dependent on the results of the physical inspection of the farm, a decision may be made to take a soil, forage or produce sample and test for such residues.” 

This has, she points out, only happened once in the last ten years and the operator was able to continue to convert the holding.

Ireland, it seems, benefits from its clean green past. 

 “Due to the conversion period and the historically low amounts of very intensive farming in Ireland, we have not come across a situation where pesticides which remain in the soil after long periods have migrated into the food product. We are aware of a recent case in a specific region of Austria where due to severe drought conditions organic sheep had ingested DDT contaminated soil which showed up as a residue in the meat, however, to date a similar situation has not been identified in the Irish organic flock.”

There is the potential then, that Ireland’s lack of serious industrialisation, including of its farming,   may even generate opportunities for Irish organic exporters.

Rare situations like the Austrian example “would be treated on a case by case basis”; the detailed inspection process, which incorporates inspecting even the pre-conversion phase, means that “the possibility of being penalised whilst at full organic status tends to be unlikely.”

Whilst organic products which showed residues of legacy pesticides “would be automatically de-certified, any issue of penalties – as with every other such case – would be investigated on a case-by-case basis to establish the timing and source of the chemicals and so forth” she adds.

So in the Austrian example, outlined above, the farmers would incur no penalties but their produce would not be allowed onto the market as certified organic.

The Organic Trust points out that “our leaf, cereals and other analyses - even from previously managed intensive farms - have to date shown no contamination or migration into organic food or produce from previous practices on the farm.”

A final thought: how strong was DDT, that its still showing up 30 plus years later. A shuddering sort of thought.

DDT legacy pesticides organic pesticides

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