Pesticides Pose Health Risks for Children
By The Environmental Working Group
Ten years after a consumer revolt against
apples treated with the carcinogen Alar prompted
a ban on the chemical, children are no better
protected from pesticides in the nation’s
food supply, according to government data
on the pesticides most often found in kids’
favorite foods. A new study by the Environmental
Working Group (EWG) says apples, as well as
some other fruits and vegetables, are so contaminated
that parents should consider substituting
items known to be lower in pesticides.
EWG called on Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Administrator Carol Browner to immediately
halt the use of one highly toxic insecticide
that poses short-term risks to small children.
The group said an emergency cancellation of
the bug killer methyl parathion is needed
because hundreds of thousands of preschoolers
are exceeding government-established safety
limits for the pesticide every day, mostly
through consumption of apples and peaches.
EWG recommended that until methyl parathion
is banned, parents shift from apples and peaches
to other fresh fruits for preschoolers.
“Consumers revolted in 1989 when the news
media revealed that government scientists
knew Alar was a potent carcinogen, but under
pressure from the manufacturer allowed the
chemical to stay on the market,” said Ken
Cook, president of EWG and an author of the
report. “Today, nothing’s changed: Children’s
foods are contaminated with unsafe levels
of numerous pesticides. The government knows
this, and is dragging its heels — protecting
chemicals instead of kids.”
EWG’s computer-assisted analysis of more
than 110,000 government-tested food samples
and detailed government data on children’s
food consumption found that multiple pesticides
known or suspected to cause brain and nervous
system damage, cancer, or hormone interference
are common in foods many children consume.
According to EWG’s report, “How ‘Bout Them
Apples?,” hundreds of thousands of children
may be at risk:
More than a quarter million American children,
ages one through five, ingest a combination
of 20 different pesticides every day. More
than 1 million preschoolers eat at least 15
pesticides on a given day. For the 20 million
American children ages 1-5, each child eats
an average of eight pesticides every day.
Every day, 610,000 children ages one through
five — equal to all the kids of that age in
the states of Washington and Oregon combined
— consume a dose of neurotoxic organophosphate
insecticides (OPs) that the government deems
unsafe. More than half of these unsafe exposures
are from one pesticide, methyl parathion.
Ten years after Alar, apples are still loaded
with pesticides. More than half the children
exposed to an unsafe dose of OP insecticides
get it from apples, apple sauce or apple juice.
Some apples are so toxic that just one bite
can deliver an unsafe dose of OPs to a child
under five. Since government data show that
young children may consume 30 times more apple
juice for their body weight than adults, apples
remain the most prominent symbol of a regulatory
system that fails to protect kids.
“For the government to follow the law and
keep its promise to protect children will
mean big reductions in the use of many pesticides
and an outright ban on a handful,” said Bill
Walker, EWG’s California director. “Like the
tobacco companies, the pesticide industry
is arguing that absolute proof of harm to
children is necessary before any changes in
standards. But parents should not have to
choose between feeding their kids plenty of
fresh produce and exposing them to dangerous
pesticides.”
Food and Drug Administration records show
that strawberries, apples, and peaches grown
in the United States and cantaloupe from Mexico
are the foods most contaminated with pesticides.
The fruits least contaminated with pesticides
were watermelon, bananas, kiwi, pineapple,
and domestically grown cantaloupe. The least
contaminated vegetables include corn, onions
and peas.
To help parents choose safer foods, EWG has
launched a new Web site, www.foodnews.org,
which allows anyone to select from more than
350 common food items and instantly learn
which pesticide residues were in those foods,
with the same odds of getting those chemicals
as in the real world. www.foodnews.org also
provides parents with information about the
health risks those pesticides pose, how to
avoid them, and a quick way to express concerns
about pesticides to food companies, grocery
stores and the government.
Although the chemical industry has tried
to rewrite the history of Alar as an unfounded
food “scare,” numerous studies confirming
that it causes cancer show that the public
was right to demand its removal from the food
supply. Similarly, Cook said, the public must
demand that the government move quickly to
fully implement the Food Quality Protection
Act, a landmark 1996 law mandating extra protection
from pesticide exposure for children. In the
meantime, parents can reduce their children’s
exposure by taking these steps:
· Choose
nutritious, widely available alternatives
to the most contaminated foods.
· Whenever
possible, choose organic foods or foods that
have been certified as having exceptionally
low pesticide residues.
· Never
use pesticides in homes with small children
unless there is a health emergency that requires
pesticide use.
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit
research group based in Washington, D.C.,
with an office in San Francisco.
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