Do You Need to Buy Organic? The Bottom Line on How Bad Pesticides Are for You
By Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D., EatingWell.com
In June, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its latest report called the Dirty Dozen, of the 12 fruits and vegetables that contain the most pesticides (see below). It also put out the Clean 15, a list of the least contaminated produce. The EWG updates this report based on the most recent USDA and FDA data on how much pesticide residue is found on conventionally grown crops.
If these lists leave you wondering just how bad pesticides actually are for your health and whether organic produce truly is worth the extra money it often costs, read on.
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The Pesticides
There are at least two good health arguments for eating organic: fewer pesticides and more nutrients. Let’s start with pesticides. Pesticides can be absorbed into fruits and vegetables, and leave trace residues. As Melinda Wenner Moyer reported on for EatingWell Magazine, there are hundreds of pesticides approved for use in the United States and they all present different risks: some are linked with cancer, while others can cause birth defects or harm the nervous system. Some pesticides—including organophosphates commonly used on crops—are what are known as endocrine disruptors, which means that they affect the body’s highly sensitive endocrine (hormone) system. There’s good reason to be concerned about this: the body uses hormones to coordinate just about everything—cell growth, appetite and metabolism, among other things. (Organophosphates, despite the name, are synthetic pesticides linked with neurological problems, among other health conditions.)
Some experts argue that we shouldn’t worry so much about pesticide residues. The Centers for Disease Control’s 2009 National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals found that most people had organochlorine pesticides (commonly used to protect crops from insects) in their bodies, but the levels detected were too low for concern. However, other researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health state that even if exposure to individual pesticides is low, consuming mixtures of these chemicals may cause health problems.
In a 2011 University of California, Berkeley study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, pregnant women who had high levels of organophosphate pesticides had children who scored lower on IQ tests years later.
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The Nutrients
From a nutrient perspective, there’s mixed research on whether organic produce is more nutritious. Case in point: a 2009 review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that there is no sufficient evidence of a difference in nutrient quality. But a 2007 study by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom found organic produce had 40 percent higher levels of some nutrients (including vitamin C, zinc and iron) and a 2003 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown berries and corn had 58 percent more polyphenols—compounds that give fruits and vegetables their disease-fighting benefits—and up to 52 percent higher levels of vitamin C than those conventionally grown.
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Bottom line: If you’re worried about pesticides, using the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 to guide your purchases is one way to limit your exposure. But remember that eating fruits and vegetables—conventional or not—is far more important to your health than avoiding them based on a fear of pesticides, so don’t get so hung up on organic that you eat less produce than you otherwise would. David Wallinga, M.D., director of food and health for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, says scientists believe that some pesticides wreak their damage by operating as free radicals, compounds that damage tissues in ways that can lead to the development of cancer and other diseases. Minimizing your exposure to pesticides will reduce this free-radical damage, of course, says Wallinga, but so will consuming more antioxidants, which mop up free radicals.
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EWG’s 2012 "Dirty Dozen Plus"*:
1. Apples
2. Celery
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Nectarines—imported
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9. Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11. Blueberries—domestic
12. Potatoes
Plus:
*Editor’s Note: This year, the EWG added this new "Plus" category to the Dirty Dozen in order to highlight crops that "did not meet traditional Dirty Dozen criteria but were commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides."
EWG’s 2012 "Clean 15"
1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Cabbage
6. Sweet Peas
7. Asparagus
8. Mangoes
9. Eggplant
10. Kiwi
11. Cantaloupe—domestic
12. Sweet Potatoes
13. Grapefruit
14. Watermelon
15. Mushrooms
Your thoughts...
Do you purchase organic fruits and vegetables? Do you wash your produce before you use it?
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Comments
I buy mostly organic whenever possible, I know what organophosphates can do because I was involved in a chemical defense team in the military and "nerve agents" are organophosphates. I can also state as an wilderness medical expert that small amounts of over the counter meds and other 'good' products can be harmful in regular doses if not absolutely needed.
Less chemicals-more healthy balanced food.
If you always wash your fruits and veggies and only buy them in "perfect" condition (i.e. no breaks in the skin), doesn't that eliminate the need to buy organic?
Food is genetically modified in many cases to make it resistant to pesticides and herbicides. Washing does not remove these elements or reverse the damage done to the original plant organism. If you don't believe this watch the below video from a scientist who worked on government research for plant pathology for much of his career. When he retired he and other researchers are now stepping forward due to the total lack of the government and industry for health and safety.
http://vimeo.com/22997532
there is also an app called the "dirty dozen" It has been updated with the latest. i have it and just checked.
I must say that I have not used it and have not been too careful about purchasing organic, but when I saw the comment about hormones it made me think again.
Yes. We purchase organic. We have a delivery service that brings all organic fruit and veggies once a week. Its been great. It also causes us to try some things we likely wouldn't buy in the store. The kids have gotten used to it and are excited to see what is in the box on Fridays and look forward to trying new things too.
We wash all fruit and veggies before using as well. We do this because we rarely peel anything - we use them as is.
IMHO, there's no such thing as the so-called "Clean Fifteen" as the soil, ground water and streams are being irreversibly damaged by chemical pesticides, herbicides and petroleum-based fertilizers. It's about thinking even beyond yourself and your own health. If the earth is polluted by these harmful poisons, soon there will be no escape - organically grown or not. Personally, I don't support these conventional harmful agricultural practices when I buy food - I only grow organic and am pretty fanatical about buying organic - it's about supporting, with my dollars, an agricultural movement - that, imperfect as it is, at least attempts to address these concerns. It's difficult sometimes, but I think it's one of the most important things I spend money on. It's our food, our health and our planet's health that is at stake.
Why on Earth are potatoes on the dirty list. They grow under ground. How exactly do the spray pesticides on them without killing everything for miles?
Original Post by: AMP2BIf you always wash your fruits and veggies and only buy them in "perfect" condition (i.e. no breaks in the skin), doesn't that eliminate the need to buy organic?
Pesticies are applied at various timepoints during the growth and development of a plant. Moreover, not all of them are sprayed on the fruit directly, but also on the leaves or applied at the roots of the plant. Even if only the fruits were treated, you need to understand that plants have poors through which they sweat and absorbe environmental substances (just like human skin ...). This means that pesicides are absorbed inside the fruit /veggie and they do not just stay as an external coating on top of the fruit.
Buying fruits in a "perfect condition" and washing them correctly will only remove part of the substances applied at the latest spraying, but it does nothing in regards to all the toxins absobed bu the plant during its lifetime from poluted soil, air or pesticied.
I am 100% aware that organic fruits are more expensive, but chances are that they are worth it.
Original Post by: ritchiepWhy on Earth are potatoes on the dirty list. They grow under ground. How exactly do the spray pesticides on them without killing everything for miles?
Pesticides are more often than not applied as a liquid solution, that leks and seeps into the ground. Also, most comercial companies use artificial fertilisers... that are also toxic (this are applied directly into the ground).
Plus, the potato plant has leaves ...above the ground. If you preay toxines on the leaves the toxin will be absorbed and will show up in your underground growing potato.
as a lat comment, the potato cultures are often attaked by an insect called the Colorado Beetle, that is notoriously difficult to get rid of. Against this bug, it is a common practice to use extremely strong insecticides.
... hope this helps
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I used to eat a diet that was high in veggies but they weren't organic. Now I have been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, so I am eating 100% organic veggies and grains. Pesticides have been linked to breast cancer. Many studies have been done that show normal breast cells mutating into cancerous ones when exposed to certain pesticides. I think it's smart to limit one's exposure to pesticides.