[FLPERMACULTURE] Children that Switch from Conventionally Grown to Organically Grown Fruits and Vegetables found to have reduced levels of Organophosphorus Pesticides in their Urine

[Michael Burns]

Subject: Children that Switch from Conventionally Grown to Organically Grown
Fruits and Vegetables found to have reduced levels of Organophosphorus
Pesticides in their Urine - A study published online before print in the HHS
NIH NIEHS Journal, Environmental Hea

For your convenience, the text of the January 30, 2008 Seattle Post
Intellingencer story is provided below this summary.

Children that Switch from Conventionally Grown to Organically Grown Fruits and
Vegetables found to have reduced levels of Organophosphorus Pesticides in
their Urine - A study published online before print in the HHS NIH NIEHS
Journal, Environmental Health Perspectives reports that twenty-three children
ages 3-11 years " ... who only consumed conventional diets were recruited for
this one-year study ... Children switched to organic diets for 5 consecutive
days in the summer and fall sampling seasons ... By substituting organic fresh
fruits and vegetables for corresponding conventional food items, the median
urinary metabolite concentrations were reduced to non-detected or close to
non-detected levels for malathion and chlorpyrifos ..." - The study was
supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Science to
Achieve Results (STAR) program.

Document Title: The title of the paper published online before print on
January 15, 2008 in the HHS NIH NIEHS journal, Environmental Health
Perspectives, is: "Dietary Intake and Its Contribution to Longitudinal
Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure in Urban/Suburban Children"

Author(s): Chensheng Lu 1, Dana B. Barr 2, Melanie A. Pearson 1, Lance A.
Waller 3

1 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of
Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
2 National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
3 Department of Biostatistics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory
University, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Organization: HHS NIH NIEHS journal, Environmental Health Perspectives

Summary: The abstract of the study follows

BACKGROUND: The widespread use of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides has led to
frequent exposure in adults and children. Because such exposure may cause
adverse health effects, particularly in children, the sources and patterns of
exposure need further studied.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed young urban/suburban childrens longitudinal exposure
to OP pesticides in the Children Pesticide Exposure Study (CPES) conducted in
the greater Seattle WA area, and utilized a novel study design that allowed us
to determine the contribution of dietary intake to the overall OP pesticide
exposure.

METHODS: Twenty-three children ages 3-11 years who only consumed conventional
diets were recruited for this one-year study conducted in 2003-2004. Children
switched to organic diets for 5 consecutive days in the summer and fall
sampling seasons. We measured specific urinary metabolites for malathion,
chlorpyrifos and other OP pesticides in urine samples collected twice daily
for a period of 7, 12, or 15 consecutive days during each of the four seasons.

RESULTS: By substituting organic fresh fruits and vegetables for corresponding
conventional food items, the median urinary metabolite concentrations were
reduced to non-detected or close to non-detected levels for malathion and
chlorpyrifos at the end of 5-day organic diet intervention period in both
summer and fall seasons. We also observed a seasonal effect on the OP urinary
metabolite concentrations, and this seasonality is correspondent to the
consumption of fresh produce throughout the year.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study demonstrate that dietary intake of
OP pesticides represents the major source of exposure in young children.

Source: January 15, 2008 online before print study published on the web site
of the HHS NIH NIEHS journal, Environmental Health Perspectives

Web site: The abstract of the study is posted at
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2008/10912/abstract.pdf

A January 30, 2008 story published in the Seattle Post-Intellingencer, titled
"Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products; Mercer Island children
tested in yearlong study" is posted at
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/349263_pesticide30.html

Contact: Reprint requests and questions may be directed to the lead author of
the study: Chensheng Lu who is with the Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in
Atlanta, Georgia at 404 727 2131; fax: 404 727 8744; e-mail:
CLu2 at SPH.Emory.edu

Prepared by: This message was distributed by Jack Cooper, who may be reached
at e-mail: jlc at fien.com or 301-384-8287

This article (#3798) was distributed by e-mail on January 30, 2008 to those
whose names are on the FIEN, LLC Subject Matter Distribution Lists for
Agricultural Research; Crop Protection; Food Safety; Fruits, Vegetables and
Nuts; Organic Food; Risk Assessment and Communication


*************

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/349263_pesticide30.html

Picture - Chensheng Lu, holding an apple from Pike Place Market, studied the
pesticide levels in Mercer Island children. In the study, the children ate a
variety of conventional produce from area groceries and then switched to
organic.

Seattle Post-Intellingencer

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Last updated 12:59 a.m. PT

Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products

Mercer Island children tested in yearlong study

By ANDREW SCHNEIDER
P-I SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

Government promises to rid the nation's food supply of brain-damaging
pesticides aren't doing the job, according to the results of a yearlong study
that carefully monitored the diets of a group of local children.

The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a
variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers
of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve
gas agents in World War II.

When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of
pesticides were not found.

"The transformation is extremely rapid," said Chensheng Lu, the principal
author of the study published online in the current issue of Environmental
Health Perspectives.

"Once you switch from conventional food to organic, the pesticides (malathion
and chlorpyrifos) that we can measure in the urine disappears. The level
returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets," said Lu, a
professor at Emory University's School of Public Health and a leading
authority on pesticides and children.

Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the
pesticides were no longer detected in the testing.

The subjects for his testing were 21 children, ages 3 to 11, from two
elementary schools and a Montessori preschool on Mercer Island.

The community has double the median national income, but the wealth of Mercer
Island made no difference in the outcome, he said.

"We are confident that if we did the same study in poor communities, we would
get the same results," he said. The study is being repeated in Georgia.

The study has not yet linked the pesticide levels to specific foods, but other
studies have shown peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, nectarines,
strawberries and cherries are among those that most frequently have detectable
levels of pesticides.

Measuring the harm

Lu is quick to point out that there is no certainty that the pesticides
measured in this group of children would cause any adverse health outcomes.
However, he added that a recent animal study demonstrated that persistent
cognitive impairment occurred in rats after chronic dietary exposure to
chlorpyrifos.

Death or serious health problems have been documented in thousands of cases in
which there were high-level exposures to malathion and chlorpyrifos. But a
link between neurological impairments and repeated low-level exposure is far
more difficult to determine.

"There's a large underpinning of animal research for organophosphate
pesticides, and particularly for chlorpyrifos, that points to bad outcomes in
terms of effects on brain development and behavior," Dr. Theodore Slotkin, a
professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University in North
Carolina, said in the April 2006 Environmental Health Perspectives.

Lu says more research must be done into the harm these pesticides may do to
children, even at the low levels found on food.

"In animal and a few human studies, we know chlorpyrifos inhibits an enzyme
that transmits a signal in the brain so the body can function properly.
Unfortunately, that's all we know."

Not many chemicals, including pharmaceutical products, were designed
specifically to kill mammals, which was genesis of organophosphates.

"It is appropriate to assume that if we -- human beings -- are exposed to
(this class of) pesticides, even though it's a low-level exposure on a daily
basis, there are going to be some health concerns down the road," said Lu, who
is on the Environmental Protection Agency's pesticide advisory panel.

The EPA says it eliminated the use of organophosphates on many crops and
imposed numerous restrictions on the remaining organophosphate pesticide uses.

Congressional concern that children were being harmed by excessive exposure to
pesticides led to the unanimous passage of the Food Quality Protection Act. At
its heart was a requirement that by 2006, the EPA complete a comprehensive
reassessment of the 9,721 pesticides permitted for use and determine the safe
level of pesticide residues permitted for all food products.

"As a result, the amount of these pesticides used on kids' foods (has
undergone) a 57 percent reduction," said Jonathan Shradar, the EPA's
spokesman.

But that's not nearly enough to prevent birth defects and neurological
problems, said Chuck Benbrook, chief scientist of the Organic Center, a
nationwide, nonprofit, food research organization.

"The pesticide limits that EPA permits are far, far too high to say they're
safe. And, the reduction that EPA cites in the U.S. has been accompanied by a
steady increase in pesticide-contaminated imported foods, which are capturing
a growing share of the market," he said.

Yet the EPA continues to insist that "dietary exposures from eating food crops
treated with chlorpyrifos are below the level of concern for the entire U.S.
population, including infants and children."

That statement is "not supported by science," Benbrook said.

"Given the almost daily reminders that children are suffering from an array of
behavioral, learning, neurological problems, doesn't it make sense to
eliminate exposures to chemicals known to trigger such outcomes like
chlorpyrifos?" he asked.

What to do

While the gut reaction of some parents might be to limit the consumption of
fresh produce or switch completely to organic food, Lu cautions not to make
the wrong decision.

"It is vital for children to consume significantly more fresh fruits and
vegetables than is commonly the case today," he says, citing such problems as
juvenile diabetes and obesity.

"Nor is our purpose to promote the consumption of organic food, although our
data clearly demonstrate that food grown organically contains far less
pesticide residues."

Lu says an all-organic diet is not necessary. He has two sons, 10 and 13, and
he estimates that about 60 percent of his family's diet is organic.

"Consumers," he says, "should be encouraged to buy produce direct from the
farmers they know. These need not be just organic farmers, but conventional
growers who minimize their use of pesticides."

Understanding how fruits and vegetables grow can help guide the consumer, he
says.

For example, organic strawberries probably are worth the money because they
are a tender-fleshed fruit grown close to the dirt, so more pesticides are
needed to fight insects and bugs from the soil. He adds apples and spinach to
his list.

"It may also be money-smart to choose conventionally grown broccoli because it
has a web of leaves surrounding the florets, resulting in lower levels of
pesticide residue," Lu says.

He is greatly concerned about one finding from the study.

"Overall pesticide (marker) levels in urine samples were even higher in the
winter months, suggesting children may have consumed fruits and vegetables
that are imported. The government needs to ensure that imported food comply
with the standards we impose on domestic produce," he said.

Dangerous science

Chlorpyrifos, made by Dow Chemical Co., is one of the most widely used
organophosphate insecticides in the United States and, many believe, the
world.

For years, millions of pounds of the chemical insecticide were used in
schools, homes, day care centers and public housing, and studies show that
children were often exposed to enormously high doses. Just as the EPA was
ready to ban the product, which analysts said would have damaged Dow's
overseas sales, the company "voluntarily" removed it from the home market.
Yet, with few exceptions, the agricultural uses continued.

The EPA's Web site is a study in contradictions when it comes to chlorpyrifos.

At one section, it "acknowledged the special susceptibility and sensitivity of
children to developmental and neurological effects from exposure to
chlorpyrifos."

But in another section, the agency reports that infants and children face no
risk from eating food crops treated with chlorpyrifos. However, the agency
doesn't say how it reached that conclusion. There is no agreement of how much
of the neurotoxin is too much.

Benbrook said the EPA has refused orders from Congress to study the cumulative
developmental risk to children from low-dose exposures.

"Perhaps we can rest assured that EPA has protected us adults from acute
insecticide poisoning risk, but our kids are on their own," Benbrook said.

ABOUT THE STUDY

Chensheng Lu's study was published this month in Environmental Health
Perspectives (ehponline.org), a publication of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Science. It was funded by the Environmental Protection
Agency and used federal laboratories to confirm the accuracy of his findings.

Unlike many previous studies, Lu's team focused on children living in an
urban/suburban area who were tested for multiple days in each of the four
seasons with urine and saliva sampled twice a day.

The organic produce was sent to the Department of Agriculture lab in Yakima to
be tested for pesticides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
tested the urine samples and the Food and Drug Administration laboratory is
completing its quantification of pesticide residues in samples of the
conventional food the children consumed.

The team included scientists from Emory University, the CDC and the University
of Washington.

P-I senior correspondent Andrew Schneider can be reached at 206-448-8218 or
andrewschneider at seattlepi.com.


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