New Years Resolution: NO Pesticides & Preservatives

December 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Inevitably, I always here the same question from patience: Why is organic better anyway?

TWO REASONS: Pesticides and Preservatives. This years resolution for baby? Buy organic!

ONE: The Pesticide Issue:

Pesticides are chemicals designed to poison the nervous systems of insects so they can’t eat the food while it’s growing.

  1. First, most safety tests done are not designed to look at low dose exposures to pesticide and chemical mixtures, particularly during critical periods of development. Furthermore, most tests done by the Environmental Protection Agency to set acceptable risk levels for pesticide residues were conducted using 154 pound adult men, not 40-pound preschoolers, let alone infants.
  2. Second, because people are contaminated with trace levels of literally hundreds of chemicals, it is generally impossible to attribute a specific health effect to any one of them. But, as we have learned with chemicals like PCBs and lead, low doses at critical periods of development have been shown to have significant permanent adverse effects on learning and behavior.
  3. Children More Vulnerable than Adults: Many organ systems, especially the nervous system, the brain, and the hormonal system can be subtly damaged by exposure to toxic substances in-utero or throughout early childhood. This is particularly relevant to childhood and fetal exposures via food and water where the timing of the exposure is at least as important as the dose.

    Some examples are:

    1. DDT (and its metabolite DDE), which are now known to exhibit much of their toxicity through anti-androgenic (de-masculinizing) properties.
    2. Vinclozolin- a heavily used fungicide that is also anti-androgenic
    3. Endosulfan- a DDT relative with estrogenic properties that is found more often in food than any other pesticide
    4. Atrazine- a weed killer with broad hormonal activity that contaminates the drinking water of about 20 million people in the United States.
    5. Organophosphorus pesticide exposure in utero produces babies with small head circumference, which is a risk factor for reduced intelligence and behavior disturbances

TWO: The Preservative Issue: (FOOD and SKIN)

Childhood sensitivities, intolerances and allergies are exponentially on the rise in America, and many researchers feel the situation is epidemic.
Although there are many theories as to why this is so, a substantial body of data exists demonstrating the negative impact of preservatives on the immune system, in both food and skincare.

Artificial preservatives in food get absorbed readily into the intestinal tract and are difficult for the body to clear. Preservatives in skincare get absorbed readily and repeatedly through the skin, a living breathing organ system just like the intestinal tract, and enter the bloodstream, eventually traveling to all the organs in the body.

Preservatives themselves are highly toxic chemicals- in low dose it is not known exactly their affect, but at high dose these parabens, methyl parabens and other preservatives are linked to cancer. At low dose, they definitely stimulate the body to recognize and react to them as foreign toxins and generate an immune reaction leading to a widespread list of vague but unrelenting symptoms in many children including fatigue, non-specific abdominal pain, runny nose, headache and behavioral issues to name a few.

Why Worry:

  1. The concern about children is that they are more vulnerable to toxins. As children grow rapidly, their brains and organs are forming at an equally rapid rate, and they absorb more for their size than do grown-ups.
  2. Children may be at risk of higher exposure to the toxins found in nonorganic food because baby food is often made up of condensed fruits or vegetables, potentially concentrating pesticide residues.
  3. Similarly, children have a higher surface area-to-body ratio, meaning they have a larger area to absorb things through the skin relative to their body weight. Therefore, what you put on their skin, often repetitively, leads to a potentially higher concentration in their bloodstream.

    This concern also applies to pregnant women’s diets and skincare as well. New evidence shows that, contrary to previous scientific belief, pesticides and preservatives in a woman’s bloodstream can be passed to a fetus in the womb. A study released in 2005 in which umbilical-cord blood of 10 children was collected by the Red Cross and tested for pollutants showed that 21 pesticides crossed the placenta.

What is Available:

  1. Sales of organic baby food have jumped nearly 18% since last year — double the overall growth of organic food sales. As demand has risen, organic food for children has been popping up outside natural food stores.

    For example, Earth’s Best baby food, a mainstay in Whole Foods and Wild Oats markets, just reached a national distribution deal with Toys R Us and Babies R Us. Gerber is selling organic baby food under its Tender Harvest label. Stonyfield Farm’s YoBaby yogurt can be found in supermarkets across the country.

  2. Organic skincare is slower to reach national distribution, in part because the labeling and regulations about skincare are far behind the food industry. Many brands claim to be “natural” when they are not, and parents are faced with a lot of confusing marketing.

    For example, many labels that claim to be natural still have methyl and propyl parabens as preservatives; have lavender fragrances instead of essential oils, and have other chemicals whose names you would struggle to pronounce. The burden lies with the parents still to really read the ingredient list.

What is Practical:

FOOD: If your child is already eating nonorganic food, starting an organic diet can limit further exposure. A study supported by the Environmental Protection Agency and published in 2005 measured pesticide levels in the urine of 23 children in Washington State before and after a switch to an organic diet. After five consecutive days on the diet, researchers found that pesticide levels had decreased to undetectable levels, and remained that way until their conventional diets were reintroduced. The study’s conclusion: “An organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect” against pesticide exposure.

The Environmental Working Group’s “A Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” lists the least contaminated and most contaminated. This can be a useful guide in selecting the most important organic produce to purchase. But it’s even more important to purchase organic meat, dairy, and eggs due to the higher levels of hormones, or antibiotics found in conventionally produced versions than fruits and vegetables so if you must stretch your food budget, start with animal products.

Resources: foodnews.org, EWG.org.

SKIN:

  1. Read the labels carefully. Avoid products that contain parebens, fragrances, phthalates, alcohols and fragrances to start. Don’t be fooled by labels that claim “all natural”.
  2. Use warm water as often as possible instead of any product at all. Use any medicated cream sparingly. Question your child’s doctor about what is really necessary.

Resource: vedaPURE.com

Posted by Dr. Natalie Geary MD | Filed Under Dr Geary