by Rick Perry
Texas Agriculture Commissioner
Part Two
Most of the population are unaware that pesticides start breaking down soon after they are applied to crops. By the time crops leave the farm, most pesticides residues have already dropped below tolerance. They decrease again during processing. Any that remain on fresh produce drop further during washing and peeling in consumers’ kitchens.
Few Americans realize it takes years of testing, as many as 140 different studies and costs of up to $70 million shouldered by the manufacturer before the EPA registers a pesticide. Additional public health safeguards are built into registering a product. For example, the EPA scrutinizes each new chemical’s potential to cause cancer, reproductive problems, birth defects and other health disorders. The agency also estimates likely dietary exposure to certain chemicals on 22 population groups.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides further protection by checking for pesticide residues on food samples. Of 12,751 samples analyzed in 1993, the FDA found no residues on 64 percent of domestic samples and 69 percent of imports. Nearly all the rest had residues the fell within tolerance. Less then 1 percent of all residues detected exceeded tolerance. When you consider that pesticide residues in food and water are measured in parts per million, per billion and per trillion, the threat of ingesting a hazardous quantity grows even dimmer. One part per million is the equivalent of a single pancake in a four mile stack. One part per trillion in infinitely smaller - equal to one second in 32,000 years.
Natural toxins capable of causing cancer can be found almost everywhere. Bruce Ames, University of California molecular biology and biochemistry professor, calls them “nature’s pesticides,” present in such common foods as lettuce, peanut butter and spinach. According to the IFIC, U.S. consumers ingest 10,000 times more natural pesticides than chemical residues.
Putting pesticide use into perspective should be the goal of everyone in the ag chemical industry. Pesticides have given the United States the abundant harvests that make our country the envy of the world. Consumers need to understand that pesticides when applied safely present negligible food safety risks and offer major benefits to their health.
Reprint permission given by AgAir Update, P.O. Box 850, Perry, GA 31069 - an international agricultural aviation publication.
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