toxicity - pesticides, herbicides and insecticides - Blackherbals.com

Continued on page 12 - Biotech’s Next Big Disaster: Seeds thatEmit Multiple PesticidesRR beans contained “27% more trypsin inhibitor, anallergen that inhibits protein digestion, can retard growthin animals fed raw soybeans, and has been connected toenlarged cells in rat pancreases.”In data Monsanto failed to submit to the FDA, from itsPuerto Rico field trials, RR beans “were significantlylower in protein and the amino acid phenylalanine.”In retoasted RR soy meal, “levels of allergens calledlectins…almost doubled the levels [found] in controls[non-GMO meal].”In other words, there was quite enough evidence, in 1994,to halt the whole FDA approval process of Monsanto soy.It was there in Monsanto’s own studies. And it wasignored and buried.Now new biotech masterpieces are on the way. Plants thatemit multiple pesticides. We’re supposed to believe this isgood science that will do no harm.We’re in the technological age, and it’s all wonderful, andbecause we’re rational people, we should jump on thebandwagon.http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/biotechs-nextbig-disaster/☻☻☻☻☻☻Continued from page 5 – Pesticides Issues in theFood Chainthe European Commission acknowledged for the first timein 2003 that some nerve toxin residue levels foundoccasionally in certain fruits and vegetables could pose areal health risk to small children.Another concern about the long-term effects of certainpesticides in food is cancer. We cannot prove a definitelink between pesticide intake and cancer; however, theauthorities make decisions on whether to license aparticular pesticide or not taking into consideration resultsfrom laboratory animals if these suggest it might causecancer. If so, then they will not approve products thatcould possible cause one case of cancer per million people.One American study of residue levels suggested thatchildren under five could rapidly build up their cancer riskfrom residues in food in the first few years of life as theirfood intake is very different from that of adults.Other studies suggest that low-dose regular exposure topesticides in food, drink and the air in our homes could berelated to behavioural problems which are becoming morecommon in children, such as hyperactivity and attentiondeficit disorder, as well as memory and learning difficul-ties. These problems could also be caused by manyother chemicals in our environment and other factors,but pesticides may well play an important role. Ourscientific understanding is not good enough to beprecise about the risks.Why PAN UK isn’t happy with governmentreassurances(a) Safety assessments don’t properly protectvulnerable groupsOne of the main concerns is that the way that the riskfrom pesticides are calculated looks mainly at youraverage, healthy, 60kg man. Children under five maybe at much higher risk than adults, because they eatthree to four times more food per kilo of their bodyweight than an average adult. Their exposure to harmfulpesticides can be therefore be much greater, especiallywhen eating certain foods. Some of the most frequentlycontaminated and highest pesticide residue levels arefound in pears, apples, oranges and bananas -preciselythe foodstuffs we favour for young children, althoughthe government does consider children’s weight in itsassessment. But the fact that children are also far moresensitive to damage from pesticides because theirorgans are still developing isn’t factored into theequations. The government is looking more closely atpesticides consumed in different kinds of British diet(vegetarian, the elderly, different ethnic groups, etc.)but to date “safety” limits have not considered the mostvulnerable groups- the unborn child, pregnant andbreast-feeding women and the sick.The amounts of residues can vary widely between onefruit and another but in testing the procedure is to blendtogether a sample of 10 different apples and take theaverage from the mixture, then add a factor to considerthe possible variation. This may not be enough toprotect children- a recent UK study calculated thatevery day between 10-226 British under-fives could beeating more than the “safety” limit for a single day’sintake of certain nerve toxin pesticides just by eating asingle apple or pear with high residue levels Thisworrying scenario was calculated for children eatingdifferent amounts of apples- not for just for appleaddicts!(b) Are we doing enough testing to really get thepicture?What you find depends on what you look for. If you’renot monitoring very much, then you might not find verymuch. While only about 200 different pesticides can beused on British crops, worldwide over 800 may besprayed on crops and we eat a lot of imported food. YetContinued on page 1413-- Traditional African Clinic July 2013