Farmworkers face the greatest risk of adverse health effects from exposure to pesticides, says a report released today by the nonprofit Organic Center, which studies the environmental and health effects of organic food and farming. Agriculture accounts for 90 percent of pesticide use in the nation.
“Pesticides can help farmers increase their yield and crop quality while reducing labor. However, increasing reliance on pesticides for food and fiber production has led to serious unintended consequences,” the group said. The report cited an EPA estimate that 1,800 to 3,000 preventable pesticide exposures occur yearly among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. Workers sometimes inhale pesticide dust, may be exposed to pesticide “drift,” or come into contact with vegetation that has been sprayed. “Farmers and farmworkers, who are exposed to pesticides at higher doses and with greater frequency than the general public … are at the greatest risk to the serious consequences of exposure,” said the Organic Center.
“Consumers can take action to support healthy farming communities by choosing food that is grown organically,” said Jessica Slade, the center’s director of science programs. Organic farmers are barred for the most part from using synthetic pesticides. U.S. food-safety regulators set tolerance limits for pesticide residues in food.
In conjunction with Natural Products Expo East, which runs through Saturday in Baltimore, the Organic Trade Association placed a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal listing hundreds of chemicals prohibited in organic production and processing. “Here’s a list of chemicals you should never have to read,” says the ad, which concludes with the tagline, “And if you buy organic, you’ll never have to.”