Pesticide Residues in Food Why we should be worried Parker Stevens

Pesticides  Pesticides include herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc.  Pesticides must be approved for use by the EPA which establishes a tolerance level (maximum amount of residue allowed on raw foods).  EPA, FDA, & USDA enforce tolerance levels

The Effects  Abamectin  Acute & chronic toxicity; reproductive/ developmental toxin  Highly toxic to insects & fish  Chlorpyrifos  Cholinesterase inhibitor; suspected endocrine disrupter  Moderately toxic to humans, affecting central nervous system, cardiovascular system, & respiratory system  Highly toxic to birds & fish and is moderately persistent in soils (2 weeks to 1 year)  Endosulfan  Acute & chronic toxicity  Mutagenic  Methidathion  Acute & chronic toxicity; reproductive toxin; cholinesterase inhibitor  “Restricted use pesticide”  Carcinogenic  Vinclozolin  Carcinogenic; developmental/ reproductive toxin; suspected endocrine disrupter

Delany Clause Amendment to the FD&C Act established that no food or color additive could be deemed safe--or given FDA approval--if found to cause cancer in humans or animals, yet many pesticides are proven carcinogens and their residues are allowed on food products.

Conflicting Information Data From: FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program USDA Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary

Residues in the EU  IRELAND: Study measuring pesticide residues in domestic & imported foods found residues in 53% of fruit & vegetable samples (with 3.4% above MRLs) and no residues in grains & grain products.  FDA: 33.7% in fruits & vegetables (with 4.8% violative); 17.7% in grains  USDA: 71% in fruits & vegetables; 49% in grains

Changes over time 1996: Food Quality Protection Act Major requirements include stricter safety standards, especially for infants and children, and a complete reassessment of all existing pesticide tolerances.

Fresh vs. Processed  USDA study showed residues on:  Green beans: 92% fresh vs. 78% processed  Oranges: 90% fresh vs. 58% processed  Plums: 74% fresh vs. 13% processed  In plums, they found fludioxonil (20.6%), iprodione (39.6%), and phosmet (19.4%) on fresh samples, but none of these on dried samples

Residues in Meat  1979 study sponsored by the FAO & WHO measured levels of chlorpyrifos- methyl and its predominant metabolite, 3, 5, 6-trichloro-2- pyridinol, in various animal tissues.  Found that the parent pesticide (chlorpyrifos-methyl) concentrates primarily in the fat and to a lesser extent in the kidney. The metabolite (pyridinol) concentrates primarily in the liver and kidney.  With chickens, the pesticide was more concentrated in the egg than other tissues.

Pesticides in the Body CDC Exposure Report:  Heptachlor  Carcinogen, acutely toxic, developmental toxin  On ATDSR’s list of most hazardous substances (ranked #33, after arsenic, lead, cyanide, DDT, and dieldrin)  Hexachlorocyclohexane  Carcinogen, suspected endocrine disrupter  #116 on ATDSR’s list of most hazardous substances  Chlordane  Carcinogen, suspected endocrine disrupter  3,5,6-Trichloro-2-pyridinol (metabolite of chlorpyrifos & chlorpyrifos-methyl)  Chlorpyrifos is #125 on ATDSR’s list (tied with plutonium)

What we can’t regulate  Ethylene Dibromide  Acute toxicity  Carcinogin  Developmental/ reproductive toxin  Possibly an endocrine disrupter  Considered highly toxic by the EPA  Tolerance revoked in US but used abroad  TCA  Acute toxicity  Tolerance revoked in US but used abroad  Merphos  Cholinesterase inhibitor  Tolerance revoked in US but used abroad

Persistent Pesticides  DDT  Prohibited in the US since 1972  Residues of DDT metabolites detected in 1.2% of fruit & vegetable samples  Dieldrin  Prohibited in the US since 1978  Found in 33.1% heavy cream samples, 23.2 % milk samples, and 6.6% squash samples  Both known carcinogens

Peaches  Generally ~1% of the residues detected on fruits & vegetables violate EPA tolerance levels  BUT, residues below tolerance levels are not necessarily safe  Reference dose (RfD) is an estimate of a “safe” daily intake of a particular pesticide  Does not account for the higher vulnerability in children

Consumers Union of the US, INC (1999): “For example, the average methyl parathion residue on U.S. peaches tested in was parts per million. At that concentration, a 100- gram peach would contain 5.5 micrograms of methyl parathion. The current EPA RfD for methyl parathion is mg/kg/day (or 0.02 ug/kg/day, since 1 mg = 1,000 ug). That means a 20-kg (44-pound) child should not consume more than 0.4 micrograms per day of this insecticide. Eating just one medium-sized peach with an average methyl parathion residue, though, would give that 20-kg child a dose of this intensely neurotoxic insecticide almost 14 times higher than the RfD. In fact, even the lowest methyl-parathion residue found on peaches in 1996, the most recent year tested, ppm, would still deliver a Reference Dose of the insecticide to a 20-kilogram child who ate a 100-gram peach. Methyl parathion was found on 41 percent of U.S. peaches in This means roughly two of every five children who eat a U.S. peach will exceed the RfD for methyl parathion by eating that single food item. The maximum methyl parathion level the PDP found on peaches in 1996, 0.5 ppm, would deliver 125 times the RfD, and the highest 10 percent of residues all exceed 35 times the RfD.2”

Pesticides in the news  BBC:   “Up to 220 young children a day may be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of pesticides just by eating an apple or a pear”   Safety levels are not necessarily met even when legal standards are   Concerns are for long term effects, particularly in children  California   “A pesticide program aimed at crippling a crop-destroying moth was set to resume this week on the Monterey Peninsula, prompting dozens of families to leave town amid concerns that the chemical mist could cause respiratory problems.”  Science Daily:   “The breakdown products of the three most commonly used organophosphorus pesticides in California's agricultural Central Valley -- chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon -- are times more toxic to amphibians than their parent compounds, which are already highly toxic to amphibians.”   Parent pesticides & breakdown products are cholinesterase inhibitors

Sources  USDA Pesticide Data Program  FDA Pesticide Program Residue Monitoring  Pesticide/ Chemical Databases  Pesticides in apple orchards:  EPA  News Stories  Study on Residues in Meat  Residue Study in Ireland  ATSDR  CDC Exposure Reporg  Other sites