Watch Out! 5 Hidden Poisons in Your Food

Amid continued concerns over pesticides, sales of organic food have continued to grow steadily each year, even in the wake of the economic downturn.
Amid continued concerns over pesticides, sales of organic food have continued to grow steadily each year, even in the wake of the economic downturn.

These days, it's pretty easy to look around on the Internet and find lists of the best and worst fruits and vegetables ranked by the level of pesticide contamination. Look, we have one, too.

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And they're pretty much all based on the same study from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). But, have you ever wondered which pesticides are the worst? That's what we're here to find out.

Unsurprisingly, that information can also be found in the same study, the Pesticide Data Program. Roughly every year, the USDA tests a mix of domestic and imported food products for their pesticide levels, including fresh, canned, and frozen produce, meat and poultry, grains, water, and oddly, catfish. Samples are collected from states around the country, representing a majority of the population, and the results are then weighed against the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) established thresholds for pesticide residues.

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But because the food you find at the supermarket comes increasingly from other countries (the Congressional Research Service estimates imports of fruits and vegetables alone have risen roughly 6 percent each year since 1990, with more than half the imports coming from Mexico, Canada, and Chile), we supplemented the government's list with some information relevant on a more international scale.

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The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (organic, here, is not used in the "good" sense), a treaty aimed at reducing the worldwide use of certain persistent and pervasive toxic chemicals, has been ratified by 177 countries and went into effect May 17, 2004, drafted and adopted with the support of the United Nations Environment Program. Notably, the United States is not a party to the convention. However, the reduction in the use of such chemicals by other countries who are party to the treaty still has a significant impact on Americans.

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Not only do these pesticides make their way into our imported food, but some of them also travel readily and easily through the atmosphere. Many of these pesticides are a great cause of concern for several other reasons - they accumulate in increasing concentrations as they move up the food chain, attaching themselves to the fatty tissues of people, livestock, and other animals; they also tend to persist in the environment for a very long time and often contaminate sources of fresh water; and they are associated with a host of health issues, including disruption of mental and physical development, cancer, and weakening of immune systems.

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And Americans clearly care: In the wake of the economic downturn, sales of organic food have continued to climb. According to the latest report from the Organic Trade Association, sales of organic food (domestic and imported) totaled $31.5 billion in 2011, up 9.5 percent from the prior year. It looks like there are plenty of Americans who, amid growing concerns about the impact of pesticides and conventional farming practices on their health and on the environment, have made eating greener and healthier a priority.

Heptachlor

When used on crops, heptachlor helps control termite and grasshopper populations. It is also used to kill malaria-bearing mosquitoes. It is a potential carcinogen and has been detected in trace amounts in cattle in the United States and Australia.

Hexachlorobenzene

Hexachlorobenzene, or HCB for short, is a fungicide that was used initially on wheat, but today is found on all kinds of food. Eating HCB-treated grain has been associated with the development of painful skin conditions, colic, and a rare disorder called porphyria turcica. It has also been shown to pass through from mothers to newborn children and also into breast milk.

Mirex

Mirex is the fire ant killer. It's also useful against termites. Mirex is a potential carcinogen and is a resilient pesticide with a half-life of up to 10 years. Mirex finds its way into the food supply through meat and fish.

Toxaphene

Toxaphene is used to combat ticks and mites in cattle, sheep, and pigs and is also sprayed on fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables. Studies on rats have shown it to be a potential carcinogen, and systemic exposure to fish has had lethal effects on reproduction.

Endosulfan

Added to the list of Persistent Organic Pollutants when the Stockholm Convention reconvened in 2009, endosulfan is a pesticide used to eliminate tsetse flies, parasites, and other pests from a variety of crops, most notably coffee, rice, sorghum, and soy. It has been in use since the 1950s. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and the United States are the top users of endosulfan and utilize approximately 15,000 tons of this chemical each year. Endosulfan is associated with birth defects, impaired mental function, and even death in farmers and villagers in close proximity who have been exposed in high concentrations.

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-Will Budiaman, The Daily Meal