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Illegal Pesticides Found on Fruits and Vegetables in U.S.
March 17, 1995
A study of U.S. government testing records has found that 66
different illegal pesticides were detected in 42 fruits and
vegetables over a two-year period from 1992 to 1993,
according to "Forbidden Fruit," a report issued in February
1995 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The EWG audit
of 15,000 test results found that U.S. residents eat an
estimated two billion pounds of produce with illegal
pesticides each year.
Not only are these findings a concern for consumers, they
also indicate the magnitude of the problem for farmworkers
who are exposed to these dangerous chemicals. In developing
countries, pesticides inflict a human toll unimagined in the
U.S. -- 90% of the estimated 25 million pesticide poisonings
annually, and over 99% of the estimated 220,000 deaths occur
in developing countries.
"Forbidden Fruit" analyzes computerized records from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) routine pesticide
monitoring program. The report focuses on the 42 fruits and
vegetables that respectively comprise 96% and 83% of domestic
fruit and vegetable consumption. The core of the analysis is
the substantial variance between the illegal pesticides
identified by FDA chemists and the pesticides reported as
violations of the law by FDA enforcement personnel. The
report finds that the rate of illegal pesticides on these
heavily consumed fruits and vegetables is 76% higher than
reported by the FDA. According to the EWG, this discrepancy
is troubling because it points to a serious breach in the
government's ability to ensure that the food supply is safe
from illegal pesticides.
Over 90% of the violations reported in "Forbidden Fruit"
involve two kinds of illegal pesticides: no-tolerance
violations, where the pesticide is found on a crop even
though the allowable level for the pesticide on that crop is
zero; and over-tolerance violations, where the amount of the
pesticide found exceeds the legal limit (or tolerance) for
that crop.
The report's key findings include:
-- Many pesticides that have been banned or restricted for
health reasons were found illegally on scores of different
foods. For example, illegal residues of captan, a probable
human carcinogen banned on 30 crops by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency for health reasons, were found on 14 crops.
Chlorpyrifos (Dursban), a potent neurotoxin heavily used in
schools and homes but restricted to use on certain foods to
protect young children from additional exposure, was found
illegally on 15 crops.
-- Some major fruits and vegetables have very high rates of
illegal pesticides. During 1992-1993, one-quarter of all
green peas contained illegal pesticides, as did 16% of pears,
12% of apple juice and 12% of all green onions.
-- Some crops from major suppliers have even higher violation
rates, including green peas from Guatemala (41% violation
rate), strawberries from Mexico (18% violation rate), green
onions from the U.S. (17% violation rate), and head lettuce
from Mexico (16%).
-- From one-third to one-half of all pesticide residues
detected on some crops were illegal. This includes 52% of
the detected residues on apple juice, 51% on green peas, 28%
on pineapples, 26% on pears and 23% on carrots. EWG
maintains that these high rates point toward a potentially
high level of illegal pesticide use on these crops that
appears to be escaping detection by state enforcement
authorities and the FDA.
-- A U.S. resident eating the USDA's recommended five
servings of fruits and vegetables per day will eat illegal
pesticides in these fruits and vegetables at least 75 times
per year. In contrast, the average consumer has to eat about
100 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in order to eat
from a shipment tested for pesticides by the FDA. This means
that a U.S. resident is at least 15 times more likely to eat
an illegal pesticide than to eat from a shipment tested by
the FDA.
EWG points out that the FDA's failure to catch illegal
pesticide residues stems in part from the agency's lack of
legal authority and money to tackle such a huge task, and in
part from day to day management failures. The FDA does not
have a computerized pesticide tolerance database to monitor
test results for illegal pesticides. All results are
scrutinized by hand, and violations are flagged by a lab
technician supposedly familiar with the tolerance limits.
EWG charges that this process routinely allows shipments of
produce with illegal pesticides to be unwittingly purchased
and eaten.
"Forbidden Fruits" recommends "a more efficient and cost-
effective approach to ensure compliance with pesticide
tolerances," based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points methods. Such methods are currently being used to
tackle microbial contamination problems in the seafood
industry. For this method to be successful, three important
elements must be present and working symbiotically: third-
party certification of domestic and imported food shipments,
record keeping and public disclosure, and education of
growers and importers regarding acceptable use of pesticides
on food.
Sources: Forbidden Fruit, February 1995; Pesticide Watch
press release, February 16, 1995; Pesticide & Toxic Chemical
News, February 22, 1995.
Contact: Environmental Working Group, 1718 Connecticut
Avenue, NW, Suite 66, Washington, DC 20009; phone (202) 667-
6982; fax (202) 232-2592; email ewg@igc.apc.org. Copies of
the report may be ordered for US$20 plus $3 postage and
handling.
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