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Re: Pesticides and Potatoes



In article <v01520d07ae521f5f3bef@[199.75.209.161]>, kert@ewg.org (Kert
Davies) wrote:

> Pesticides in spuds:
> There sure are a lot of pesticides used in the cultivation of non-organic
> potatoes. 2,4-D is the tip of the iceberg > The USDA PDP 1994 (the
latest) found:
> 2,4-D on 4.3% of the samples tested for that compound.
> Chloropropham 66% (The most commonly detected pesticide on potatoes)
> DDT was found on 3.8% of samples
> DDE 9.5% of samples
> Dieldrin 11.1% of samples
> Endosulfans 12.1% of samples
> Thiabendazole 23.8%
> o-Phenylphenol 3.9%
> Phorate metabolites on 4.3%
> Many others were found on less than 1% of the samples tested.

DDT and its metabolite DDE are one of the most common on your list.  Given
that these have not been used in agriculturual production for a good amny
years they should be present in about equal incidence on both organic and
conventional potatoes. Be really careful in your logic or you end up
making it difficult for those of us who are actually doing work that maeks
it possible to use less pesticide.  

It is also useful to use an appropriate statistic, and the DDE example
serves there too.  How many of the samples were over the limit? The fact
that they were detectable does not mean that they were applied or even
present in concentrations warranting conern. There are many pesticides
that are detectable at extremely low concentations, so they are detectable
(but not hazards) on almost everything. It is imporant to focus attention
on those that pose a demonstrable risk. Crying wolf also hurts the cause
you are working for. Again, I urge you to be rigorous in your reports.
-- 
Thomas Björkman    
Dept. of Horticultural Sciences   
Cornell University



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