A Cocktail of Chemicals

Blog #18

What did you find out about the pesticide residues that may be in or on your food?

I was interested to learn that the average human body has 29 pesticides in it. Recently Organic foods have been pushed in stores and the price has reflected the increase in demand. In the Consumer Report it states that organic food is thought to be the best choice because it is better for your health, the environment and the people who grow it. And was shocked to read that eating Green Beans from the U.S. is two hundred times more riskier then eating U.S. grown broccoli.
I found a web-address that has an article posted March 20, 2019 on the Dirty Dozen: [https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php] it reported that Kale was amongst the most dirty with over 92% of samples had two more pesticides residues after washing. 60% of the samples collected were found to have Dacthal which has been classified by the EPA since 1995 as a possible carcinogen and prohibited for use in Europe since 2009. All fruit tested had been washed and peeled to mimic what one might do in their own home- this experiment shows that simple washing does not remove all pesticides.

This surprises me, with the standards of today I can not believe today that we still are struggling with the use of harmful pesticides and our food not being clean enough. Along with this, so many do not even have clean water; so it shouldn't be such a shock.

What should we be doing about this in terms of public health, not just in terms of our personal choices?

Educating on the benefits of peeling fruit, although some nutrients are lost, it will help keep bodies clean. Making triple washed vegetables and fruits available; although not proven to be 100% has been proven to be better in reducing the risk of pesticide exposure. Organic would be ideal, but not realistic for all communities; so tailoring education to the community level is important

If you discovered a posting at your children's playground noting that pesticides have recently been used there, what might you do?

First and foremost end the playground date early. Ask local officials for cleaning and sanitizing of public space; if possible have ground covering tested to assure that they are safe. . . in a perfect world.

I had no idea what signs and symptoms to look for. Using Cornell University as a resource I found that Symptoms of Pesticide Poisoning are similar to other types of poisoning and diseases: Heat Exhaustion, food poisoning, and asthma can all mimic this. Classified as Mild, Moderate and Severe or Acute Cornell lists:

Mild: headache, fatigue, weakness, restlessness, skin irritation, irritation of the nose, mouth and throat and thirst.
Moderate: n/v, diarrhea, excessive saliva, stomach cramping, excessive perspiration, difficulty with breathing, coughing, tachycardia or blurred vision.
Severe or Acute: fever, intense thirst, n/v, uncontrolled muscle twitches, pinpoint pupils, or unconsciousness.

As a healthcare provided, having resources to know the families of pesticides will help to treat the patient properly. Each pesticide in a family attacks a pest in a similar way. Treatment and antidotes for poisoning are also the same within each family.

Because Patients