[Enesta Jones] Hello, and welcome to EPA's Green Scene, an environmental
podcast you cantake with you.
I'm Enesta Jones of EPA's Office of Public Affairs.
Have you ever wondered if it's better to buy organic fruit
because it's freeof pesticides?
Because organic is usually more expensive, it may not
be in your budget.
So as a parent, you may ask, "If I don't buy organic fruit,
is there a way to limit my child's exposure to
pesticide residues?"
Yes, according to EPA.
Joining me today to talk about pesticides and food
is Toiya Goodlow, a chemist in EPA's Office of
Pesticide Programs.
Toiya, welcometo the show.
[Toiya Goodlow] Thank you for having me.
[Enesta Jones] So, Toiya, let's start with the good news.
The United States has the safest food supply in the world.
What is EPA doing to ensure that food, even when it has pesticide
residues on it, is still safe to eat?
[Toiya Goodlow] Well, before I let you know about EPA's specific role,
I should note that we work collaboratively with the
Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of
Agriculture to keep our food supply safe.
Now, on to EPA's work.
It is important to note that before any pesticide can be
registered for use on food, EPA has to approve the pesticide,
or the chemical, for this use.
Extensive tests are submitted to the agency, and the results
are considered, and we use that information to make sure that
no harm will result from the use of that pesticide for people,
wildlife, fish or plants.
But we don't stop at new pesticides.
We also look back at pesticides registered before November 1984,
to make sure that they are up to date with today's current
safety standards.
[Enesta Jones] Let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly.
Even when pesticides are applied legally and in accordance with
label directions, there's still some pesticide
residue left over.
Is that right?
[Toiya Goodlow] Yes, that's correct.
There still may be some residual pesticide residues left on
foods, and this could be on fresh produce such as apples
and tomatoes, or on processed foods like
ketchup and applesauce.
But that's why we at EPA, we set maximum residue limits,
or tolerances, as we like to call them.
And these tolerances are based on the toxicity of the
pesticide, how and when it's applied, and also the residues
that we expect to be present on treated foods.
And we use all this information to set our tolerance level
values, which are legally enforceable standards.
[Enesta Jones] As I understand it, children are more susceptible to adverse
health affects, more so than adults.
Is this the case with pesticides?
[Toiya Goodlow] Yes, this is true for some cases.
Children may be more susceptible to pesticide exposure,
and this is because their internal organs are still
developing and maturing.
It's also because, in relation to their body weights,
they consume more food and drink more water than we do as adults,
and that can lead to increased pesticide exposure.
And the last thing is just their common behaviors.
Children like to play in the yard or be on the floor and
put things in their mouth, and that could also lead
to increased exposure.
But at the EPA, we make sure to consider all these special
considerations for children's health.
For example, we routinely look at commonly eaten children's
foods, and this could be apple juice, orange juice, potatoes
and meats like chicken and beef and poultry, everything.
We look at -- we consider the child's entire diet to make
sure the pesticide is still safe.
And in addition to children, we also look at special
subpopulations such as females of childbearing age.
[Enesta Jones] And are there special steps that consumers like you and
I can take to ensure that we are not exposing ourselves
to pesticides on our food?
[Toiya Goodlow] Absolutely.
There are some simple steps that we can all take,
and I'm sure many of us are doing them already.
Let's start with this fruit that we have here.
You want to make sure that you wash all of your fruits and
vegetables, all your fresh fruits and vegetables,
so before we were to consume these apples or these berries,
we want to make sure we wash them under running water.
[Enesta Jones] Cold, hot, doesn't matter?
[Toiya Goodlow] I prefer cold but it doesn't really matter, as long as you
wash and scrub the fruit to reduce that pesticide exposure.
[Enesta Jones] Any other tips?
[Toiya Goodlow] Oh, yes.
Of course, you could also peel and trim your vegetables,
and carrots and celery are examples of veggies that we
commonly trim, and this could also reduce the amount of dirt
that's left on the food and reduce pesticide exposure.
Another tip would be to trim fat from meat and also the skin from
poultry and fish.
And that is because some pesticides accumulate in
the fatty tissues of the animal.
Another thing that you can do that we all do is to just cook
our foods, and this reduces the pesticide exposure for
some chemicals.
And lastly, and maybe most importantly, just eat
a variety of foods from a variety of sources
because this could reduce your exposure to a single pesticide
on a single type of food.
[Enesta Jones] Organic food -- it's becoming very popular.
Can you tell us more about how farmers grow their
crops organically?
[Toiya Goodlow] Yes, organically grown food is food that is grown and
processed without the use of synthetic pesticides.
And these are the pesticides that we registered,
ones that you can find anywhere in your hardware stores or at
Home Depot.
And farmers that choose to grow organically use natural
fertilizers and pesticides.
And this could include natural predators such as insects that
eat other insects, and so you'll find at your grocery stores and
at your local farmer's market that a lot of people are
increasingly providing organic foods to try to reduce
pesticide exposure.
[Enesta Jones] While we're on the topic of grocery stores, I have
a girlfriend -- she's decided that she's going to start
buying her food from California versus Chile because she's
hearing that there are different safety standards domestically.
Is that factor fiction?
[Toiya Goodlow] That's fiction.
Basically, this probably derives from the government's
recent ruling to publish the nation of origin on
the produce so we'll know as consumers where our produce
is grown, but it's EPA's job to regulate the amount of pesticide
residues on all foods that are sold in the United States,
and this is both domestic and imported food.
And, like I mentioned earlier, our sister agencies,
the FDA and the USDA, also work with us to make sure that these
safety standardsare upheld.
[Enesta Jones] I'm not a gardener, Toiya, but I know many of our
listeners are.
Is gardening another way to ensure that our food is safer?
[Toiya Goodlow] Well, I'm not a gardener either, but I know many
do enjoy the hobby, and yes, it can be a way to reduce
pesticide exposure, but it's important for the gardeners
out there to remember two things when planning their garden.
The first is to make sure that their garden is located away
from the neighbors, where pesticide drift could occur.
And this is because if they use pesticides, synthetic
pesticides, the exposure can, I guess, drift over to
your garden.
And the second thing is to make sure if your home is treated
for pests regularly, you want to make sure that your garden
is also away fromthat location.
[Enesta Jones] A lot of information, but Toiya, what's the
take-away here?
Go organic, not go organic?
[Toiya Goodlow] Well, the take-away here is yes, there are low levels
of pesticides present on our foods but with a few simple
tips like we talked about, the washing and peeling
and cooking your foods and deriving them from a variety
of sources, you can reduce your pesticide exposure.
[Enesta Jones] Eating is something that we all have to do, so thank you
for being here today, Toiya, to share this helpful information.
And for more on pesticides and food, please visit
www.epa.gov/pesticides. 00:08:31.093,00:00:00.000 See you next time on Green Scene.