Eating sustainably
Pesticides Emory University
21
Organic Program. These include naturally and microbially-derived pesticides (e.g. acetic acid)
and a limited number of low-toxicity synthetic substances (e.g. boric acid and elemental sulfur).
The pesticide of last resort for organic producers is Bt, which has been incorporated into
conventional crops through genetic engineering and may be losing its effectiveness due to
emerging insect resistance.
Is “organic” production safer for farm workers and their families?
Studies show that farm workers and their families can be more highly exposed to pesticides than
the general population.
12
The workers can be directly exposed in the workplace and they can
also bring pesticides home on their shoes, work clothes, or skin if they do not wash and change
first. Agricultural workers typically live, either temporarily or permanently, close to or actually
on the farms where they work. Studies show that levels of pesticides in house dust in their homes
can be higher than in non-agricultural homes.
13, 14
Although studies cannot say for sure yet
whether organic farming is safer for farm workers and their families, it is highly likely that
organic farming reduces pesticide exposures compared to conventional farming.
Anne Riederer for the Sustainable Food Committee at Emory University
1
Boulaid M, Aguilera A, Camacho F, Soussi M, Valverde A. 2005. Effect of household processing and unit-to-unit
variability of pyrifenox, pyridaben, and tralomethrin residues in tomatoes. Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry. 53:4054-8.
2
Schattenberg HJ 3rd, Geno PW, Hsu JP, Fry WG, Parker RP. 1996. Effect of household preparation on levels of
pesticide residues in produce. Journal of the Association of Analytical Chemists International. 79:1447-53.
3
Rauh VA, Garfinkel R, Perera FP, Andrews HF, Hoepner L, Barr DB, Whitehead R, Tang D, Whyatt RW. 2006.
Impact of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among innercity children.
Pediatrics 118:e1845-59.
4
Engel SM, Berkowitz G, Barr DB, Teitelbaum SL, Siskind J, Meisel SJ, Wetmur JG, Wolff MS. 2007. Prenatal
organophosphate metabolite and organochlorine levels and performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral
Assessment Scale in a multiethnic pregnancy cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology 165:1397-404.
5
Young JG, Eskenazi B, Gladstone EA, Bradman A, Pedersen L, Johnson C, Barr DB, Furlong CE, Holland NT.
2005. Association between in utero organophosphate pesticide exposure and abnormal reflexes in neonates.
Neurotoxicology 26:199-209.
6
Eskenazi B, Marks AR, Bradman A, Harley K, Barr DB, Johnson C, Morga N, Jewell NP. 2007. OP exposure and
neurodevelopment in Mexican-American children. Environmental Health Perspectives 115:792-98.
7
Berkowitz GS, irman-Deych E, Obel J, Lapinski RH, Godbold JH, Holzman IR, Wolff MS. 2004. In utero
pesticide exposure, PON1 activity, and head circumference. Environmental Health Perspectives 112:388-91.
8
Riederer AM, Hunter Jr. RE, Hayden SW, Ryan PB. 2010. Pyrethroid and organophosphorus pesticides in
composite diet samples from Atlanta, USA adults. Environmental Science and Technology. 44:483-490.
9
Baker BP, Benbrook CM, Groth E, Lutz Benbrook K. 2002. Pesticide residues in conventional, integrated pest
management (IPM)-grown and organic foods: insights from three US data sets. Food Additives and Contaminants.
19:427-46.
10
Vonderheide AP, Bernard CE, Hieber TE, Kauffman PE, Morgan JN, Melnyk LJ. 2009. Surface-to-food pesticide
transfer as a function of moisture and fat content. J. Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.
19:97-106.
11 Rohrer CA, Hieber TE, Melnyk LJ, Berry MR.
2003.
Transfer efficiencies of pesticides from household flooring surfaces to foods.
Journal of Exposure
Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.
13
:
454-464.
12
McCauley LA, Anger WK, Keifer M, Langley R, Robson MG, Rohlman D. 2006. Studying health outcomes in
farmworker populations exposed to pesticides. Environmental Health Perspectives 114:953-60.
13
Bradman A, Whitaker D, Quirós L, Castorina R, Henn BC, Nishioka M, Morgan J, Barr DB, Harnly M, Brisbin
JA, Sheldon LS, McKone TE, Eskenazi B. 2007. Pesticides and metabolites in the homes and urine of farmworker
children living in the Salinas Valley, CA. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.
17:331-49.
14
McCauley LA, Travers R, Lasarev M, Muniz J, Nailon R.2006. Effectiveness of cleaning practices in removing
pesticides from home environments. Journal of Agromedicine. 11:81-8.