It's a good idea to minimize your exposure to pesticides. But you might be surprised to find out where they are (and aren't) lurking.
It's a good idea to minimize your exposure to pesticides. But you might be surprised to find out where they are (and aren't) lurking.
Mentioned in this episode:
Pesticide Use by Consumers (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
How you can Help Pollinators (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Hello and welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast, a show where we take a closer look at headlines, trends, and research, so that you can make more informed choices about what you eat. I’m your host, Monica Reinagel, and I recently received this question from a Nutrition Diva listener:
“Good morning. My name is Marnie. I am trying to eat healthier eat the rainbow, including more healthy fruits and vegetables into my diet. My question has to do with organic fruits and vegetables versus non-organic. I would prefer to buy organic but as a family of four I'm just finding it way too expensive. I'm familiar with the dirty dozen list, and I do consider that when purchasing vegetables, but I'm wondering: Can non-organic be safe for consumption? and if so, do you have any recommendations for proper washing and care of those non-organic fruits and vegetables so that we're getting the maximum nutrition value from them without compromising our bodies because of the pesticides.“
According to a recent survey conducted by Consumer Reports, 85% of shoppers are worried about pesticides in the food supply, a concern that no doubt sells a lot of organic food. However, as Marnie points out, organic produce can be up to 50% more expensive than conventional. And although annual inflation has slowed way down, we’re still paying a lot more for food than we were a few years ago. What’s a health-conscious eater to do?
I agree that it's a good idea to minimize your exposure to pesticides. But I think many of us are focusing our pesticide-avoidance efforts in the wrong place.
There's no question that pesticides can be harmful to humans and other life forms. Exposure to high levels of pesticides has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other damage to tissues and organs. Pesticides (or the compounds they break down into) can also disrupt hormone function, affecting fertility, reproduction, growth, and development. We've already seen the effects of pesticides on other life forms - everything from honeybees to fish to frogs.
That's why Mom straps Junior into his organic hemp Snugli every Saturday morning and heads off to the farmer's market to round up a week's worth of organic produce and to make sure that the free range chickens are eating only organic grubs. That's why many of you have memorized the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" lists of the produce with the highest and lowest pesticide residues.
But when it comes to pesticide exposure, what's in your reusable grocery bag may actually be the least of your concerns. Like many of you, I once regarded the Dirty Dozen as a way of prioritizing organic purchases. However, recent research has caused me to re-evaluate its usefulness.
In a paper published in the Journal of Toxicology, scientist Carl Winter points out that the amount of pesticides you' be exposed to from eating Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables is vanishingly small. Although it may be true that substituting organic versions of these 12 foods could reduce your exposure by up to 80%, this wouldn't have any impact on your health or disease risk, because the amounts are so small to begin with.
Campaigns like the Dirty Dozen have had the unhelpful effect of making people feel nervous about eating produce that isn’t organic. But eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is far more important than making sure they are all organic.
In 2014, for example, a ten-year study of more than a half million British women found that those who always ate organic food had essentially the same risk of getting cancer as those who never did. Subsequent studies attempting to find a link between dietary pesticide exposure and cancer, heart disease or Type 2 diabetes have failed to find a strong or consistent link.
Most of the scary studies you’ve probably seen linking pesticide exposure to disease risks involve people who handle pesticides occupationally or are subjected to highly contaminated environments. And that’s one of the reasons that organic farming practices are worth pursuing–even if they don’t directly impact the average consumers’ health risks. Reducing agricultural pesticide use protects wildlife and farm workers, and makes for a healthier environment for all of us.
However, even if our food supply were to magically become 100% organic tomorrow, we'd still have a pesticide problem. Because we also use pesticides and herbicides to kill bugs and weeds in our homes, yards, and gardens, parks, workplaces, schools, shopping malls, hospitals, grocery stores, and other public places.
Although they are not being applied to our food, they still wash into our water supply and vaporize into the air we breathe. Pesticides also get into our bodies through our skin. Without even knowing it, most of us are constantly handling things that have been treated with pesticides, walking on surfaces that have been treated with them and tracking them into our houses.
While we can't clean up the whole world, we can clean up our own backyards - and that would have an enormous impact. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that consumers - that's you and me - use 10 times more pesticides per acre than farmers do. And I can tell you from personal experience that many of those household and garden pesticides are being applied by people who think it's essential to buy and eat organic food. It doesn't add up.
One of the reasons that consumers use so many chemicals is that we don't use them very carefully. We apply more than needed or use them more often than necessary. We use broad-spectrum chemical cocktails that promise to kill everything when a specific problem might be controlled with a more conservative approach. We ignore safety measures and don't take the time to dispose of containers properly.
So before you get out that weed killer, ask yourself if a few dandelions are really the end of the world. Investigate non-toxic methods of controlling pests. Consider turning some of your yard over to native plantings that require fewer chemicals to maintain. In the show notes I’ll include a link to some more ideas from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how to turn your garden into a chemical-free haven for the birds and the bees.
And if you absolutely must use chemicals to control pests - and as someone whose house is built on an anthill, I can certainly sympathize - be sure to use them exactly as indicated, or call in a professional who can advise you on how to get maximum control with the most conservative measures.
Then, sit back and enjoy your organic (or non-organic!) lunch, knowing that you've done something meaningful to reduce your pesticide exposure!
In terms of washing and storing produce, the rules are the same for organic and nonorganic. Scrubbing them in clear water will remove surface impurities like wax, soil, bacteria, and even pesticide residues. Organic farmers also use pesticides, by the way. They just use pesticides that are considered natural instead of synthetic, which many people find to be a somewhat arbitrary distinction.
Bacterial cross-contamination of fresh foods in your kitchen is actually a more present danger to your household than pesticide residues on your produce. So be sure that the sinks, counters, and crisper drawers that come into contact with your produce are kept sanitized.
Thanks, Marnie, for your question. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, you can email me at nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com You can also leave me a message at 443-961-6206.
I’d also like to invite you to check out my other podcast. It’s called the Change Academy, where we explore the art and science of creating positive behavior change, both in our own lives, and in our workplaces and communities. You can find it on all the major podcast platforms. Just search for Change Academy.
Nutrition Diva is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast and is supported by a fantastic team, which includes our Brannan Goetschius, Nathan Semes, Davina Tomlin, Holly Hutchings, Morgan Christianson, and Kamryn Lacy.
Thanks to all of them and thanks to you for listening!