Pesticides accumulate in fat deposits in the body and cause damage over time. It is important to know that pesticides can be passed on. Mother’s who ingest pesticides through “contaminated” fruits and vegetables pass it on to their unborn child. Similarly, a child consuming breast milk will also consume an indefinite amount of pesticides based on the mother.
The effects can be detrimental, especially when combined with all of the other chemicals ingested from consuming conventional food.
Farmers growing organic crops are not allowed to use any pesticides. There still may be, however, a small amount of pesticide residue found on organic crops due to outside sources. You’ll be happy to know that this pesticide residue level can not exceed levels greater than 5%. But this still calls for an end to pesticide use, and here’s why. The cost of pesticide use is as follows:
- Carcinogenicity
- Immune system suppression
- Miscarriages
- Parkinson’s disease
- Male infertility & inhibited reproductive function
- Disruption of the endocrine system
- Neurotoxicity
- Adversely affected nervous system
- Massive pollution & environmental decay
All of these things occur with pesticide use at the cost of what? Ironically, studies show that only 0.1% of any applied pesticide ever reaches the target pest. Yes, 99.9% of many pesticides actually turn into an unintended pollutant in the environment.
The Environmental Working Group has their own 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, that we recommend you check out. According to there analysis, here are the top 10 produce which contain the least amount of pesticides:
- Onions
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Avocado
- Asparagus
- Sweet pears – frozen
- Mangoes
- Eggplant
- Cantaloupe – domestic
- Kiwi
The Environmental Working Group also says that consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by 80% simply by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the cleanest. If people ate 5 servings of fruits and veggies that were especially contaminated, an average of 10 pesticides could be consumed daily.
