Study Shows Unacceptable Pesticide Levels in Children who Eat Conventional Produce

A Seattle PI article details that a yearlong study has shown “brain damaging” pesticides are present in children who had a diet including conventional produce. When children switch to eating organic produce and juices, the potentially unsafe chemical levels could no longer be detected within eight to 36 hours.

The types of pesticides shown as being present, organophosphates, have attempted to be phased out over time by the EPA. But activists say the agency should take a much more aggressive approach, and that current acceptable limits are much too high – levels that could lead to neurological disorders.

The study, which took place in Washington state, measured unsafe levels of chemicals in the urine and saliva of children ages three to eleven.

-- Dylan Blaylock