JON MORGAN

Last updated12:32, March 13 2017

We have to trust farmers, regulators and science that pesticide residues in our food are not at dangerous levels.

OPINION: Wellington Organic Week is coming up and I'm pleased. It gives my organic farming friends a chance to profit from this heightened interest in them.

But what I'm not happy about is the divisiveness of a crowd calling themselves the Safe Food Campaign.

They claim that only organic food is "safe" because all other food contains pesticides that are a risk to children's health. In a media release marking Wellington Organic Week, they spell out, with relish, what can go wrong - birth defects, genetic and hormonal damage, damaged immune system, and brain damage. All this from eating non-organic food.

Now, the organic growers and farmers I know would be horrified by these scare tactics. They know claims like this are without foundation and they know that they lead to counter-claims of equal strength which I will come to in a minute.

READ MORE:Kiwis take to organics as the sector goes mainstream

First, these claims. Every so often health authorities detail pesticide residues in food. The Greens and their mates see this as a chance to literally scare up more votes and toxicologists are forced to hose them down.

These experts say use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, and veterinary medicines in all food is strictly regulated and pesticide levels are at extremely low levels, not remotely near what would be considered unsafe. These residuesaredetected more efficiently than they used to be because thetechnology to do so has improved.

If the Safe Foodclaims were true, youwould think the Cancer Society would be up in arms. But no.

This is what the society says: "There is no current evidence that shows very low levels of pesticide residues increase the risk of cancer. There is evidence which suggests eating lots of fruit and vegetables has many health benefits. These health benefits far outweigh any risk which might be linked with pesticide residues and you should not limit the fruit and vegetables you eat."

Strangely, the chemicals that organic farmers are permitted to use to replace conventional pesticides are not tested for residues in food but you can bet they're there.

The list is too long to show here, but these are three of the more dangerous ones.

Copper sulphate is used as a fungicide by organic farmers, despite its far higher toxicity when compared to synthetic alternatives.

Vineyard sprayers have experienced liver disease from exposure to it. It is corrosive to the skin and eyes, and is absorbed through the skin. It causes reproductive problems in birds, hamsters and rats. It has been shown to induce heart disease in the offspring of pregnant hamsters that were exposed to it. It has caused endocrine tumours in chickens. At normal application rates it is foundto bepoisonous to sheep and chickens. It isvery toxic to fish, crabs, shrimps and oysters.

There are cases where most animal life in soil, including large earthworms, have been eliminated by the extensive use of copper-containing fungicides in orchards.

Once a soil is contaminated with copper, there is no practical way to remove it.

Azadirachtin, also known as neem oil, is a toxic pesticide that is far more effective in killing foraging bees than synthetic pesticides.EUstudieshaveshown it kills 50 per cent of bee populations when they're exposed to a dose level 50 times lower than the recommended dosefororganicfarmers.

Pyrethrum is highly toxic to bees. Several studies indicate the possibility of a connection between pyrethrins and cancer, including one study showing a 3.7-fold increase in leukemia among farmers who had handled pyrethrins compared to those who had not.

Organic farmers excuse their use of these poisons by saying they have no alternative. Yes they do. They could use the pesticides conventional farmers use and are proved to be safe. But then they wouldn't be "organic" and able to charge more for their food and claim they are safer than other food.

You see. It's easy to slag off both organic and non-organic food for perceived dangers. But the fact is we have to trust the farmers, the scientistsand the regulators that they are keeping all food safe for us to eat. And I am sure they are.

Jon Morganis the editor of NZ Farmer

-Stuff

Here is the original post:

Safe food campaign open to counter-claims of poisons in organic ... - Stuff.co.nz