{"id":12917,"date":"2011-06-21T00:09:22","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T06:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=12917"},"modified":"2011-06-21T00:09:22","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T06:09:22","slug":"apple-crop-for-2009-safest-on-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/apple-crop-for-2009-safest-on-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Crop for 2009: Safest On Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just published a new version of their criminally misleading, “Dirty Dozen list” based on data from the 2009 crop that the USDA released this spring. \u00a0Apples got the questionable honor of topping that list.<\/p>\n

I know a lot about apple growers and the Integrated Pest Management techniques that they employ to counteract their formidable, pest foes. \u00a0I was pretty sure that EWG had gotten this wrong, so I pulled down the data from the USDA-AMS, Pesticide Detection Program (PDP). \u00a0They buy produce samples from commercial sources, and analyze them for pesticide residues. \u00a0The EWG got their data from this same source, but EWG didn’t make the effort to look at the raw data (which is fully\u00a0transparent and available for downloading<\/a>). \u00a0Only by doing that<\/a> can you see exactly what chemicals were found and at what levels.<\/p>\n

What The Data Actually Shows<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was able to find 12 years of apple data between 1992 and 2009, and as I suspected, it shows a drop in the average, tiny, risk associated with the residues (The average “safety factor” is how many times your body weight you would have to eat to consume a toxic dose was ~400,000). The data graphed as a distribution of five year averages (see above) also shows an overall shift towards even lower risk categories. \u00a0Note that the largest subset of detections in the 2005-9 data (red line) is at a 10-billion-fold safety factor (you would need to eat 10 billion times your body weight of apples to get a deadly dose). \u00a0Note also that there were very few detection in the 10,000 to 10 million-fold safety factor range. \u00a0 Apples were still plenty safe in 1992 when safety factors as low as 100 were seen, but they are even far safer now. \u00a0The US produced 9.7 billion pounds of\u00a0Apples<\/a> in 2009. \u00a0That would only be enough to deliver a toxic dose of pesticide to 163 people. \u00a0Does that sound like the top of the dirty dozen list!<\/p>\n

But What About the Really Toxic Pesticides?<\/h3>\n

The chart above is based on all the categories of chemicals, including those which are not hazardous at any dose. \u00a0What about for those insecticides that can represent a risk if consumed at a high enough dose? \u00a0When one hears the term “Pesticide,” what comes to mind are the 40-60 year-old cholinesterase inhibitors<\/a> – the organophosphates and carbamates. \u00a0These are neurotoxins that kill insects at very low rates, but they are also rather toxic to animals (some have LD50s as low as 1 to 10 mg\/kg). \u00a0Its hard to understand, but these products looked like a good option in the 1960s because, unlike DDT, they break down quickly and don’t “bio-accumulate” in the food chain.<\/p>\n

Why Cholinesterase Inhibiting Pesticides Were Used On Apples<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My grandfather used to say, “its not so bad when you bite into an apple and find a worm. \u00a0The problem is if you bite and find half a worm”. \u00a0He was referring to the worst pest of apples, the Coddling Moth<\/a>. \u00a0The adult moth lays eggs on the young, developing fruit. \u00a0When the larvae hatch they immediately bite a hole in the skin of the apple, spit out that bite, and then begin to mine their way through the fruit as seen in the image above. \u00a0This means that to protect the fruit, the insecticide has to be so potent that it can kill the larvae with the tiny dose from the one bite of skin.<\/p>\n

In the bad old days, farmers sprayed every 21 days to maintain a continuous coating of insecticide on the apples. \u00a0Over time they learned that you can trap adult male moths in traps that contain the female sex pheromone as an attractant. \u00a0In this approach you wait until you find moths in the trap and then make a spot spray only in the part of the orchard where you saw the “hot spot.” \u00a0Far less insecticide is needed over the season which saves the farmer money. \u00a0This IPM system is actually what makes it possible to grow a small percentage of the crop (~5%) as Organic. If the moth ever gets a toe-hold in the Organic section, there is no way to stop it, but if the control program is excellent in the conventional trees surrounding the Organic patch, then the small Organic section can be protected using Pheromone Confusion Technique<\/a>. \u00a0Fortunately, companies are finally discovering safer options to use on the hot spots, so they no longer have to rely so much on the old Cholinesterase inhibitors.<\/p>\n

The Chart below shows how the safety factors associated with two of the less toxic Cholinesterase inhibitors over time (The safety factor is the LD50 of the chemical or how toxic it is in mg\/kg, divided by the level of the residue, also in mg\/kg. \u00a0The safety factor is effectively the number of times your body weight you would have to eat to consume a toxic dose).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The chart below shows the safety trends for six other cholinesterase inhibitors. \u00a0Note that the average residue for nearly all of them have shifted to a safer level with the exception of Dimethoate which is mainly used to control mites.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, the Environmental Working Group was completely wrong<\/a> about apples. \u00a0 They owe the apple industry a big apology, and they should both retract their lists and give back the money it helped them raise.<\/p>\n

You can email me at savage.sd@gmail.com. \u00a0My website is Applied Mythology<\/a>. \u00a0Apples image from Muffet<\/a>. Codling Moth picture from the\u00a0USDA<\/a>. \u00a0Graphs by me.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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