Scientific Study indicates Organic Foods Healthier for Children

By: Rick Noble


Changing to organic foods provides children an "amazing and immediate"
protection from widely used pesticides that are used on a variety of crops,
according to a new study by a team of federally funded scientists.
Concentrations of two organophosphate pesticides--malathion and
chlorpyrifos--declined substantially in the bodies of elementary-school
age children during a five-day period when organic foods were substituted
for conventional foods.(Did you catch that? Only 5 days!0
The two chemicals are the most commonly used insecticides in U.S.
agriculture. More than 2 million pounds were applied to California crops in
2003, according to records of the state Department of Pesticide Regulation.
The health effects of exposure to minute amounts of pesticides found in
food are largely unknown, especially for children. Some research studies
suggest that the residue of the pesticides may harm the developing nervous system.
For 15 days, a team of environmental health scientists from the University
of Washington, Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention tested the urine of 23 elementary-school age children in the state of Washington.


During the first three days and last seven days, the children ate their
normal foods. But during the middle five days, organic items were
substituted for most of their diet, including fruits, vegetables, juices and
wheat and corn-based processed items such as cereal and pasta.
Average levels of both pesticides in the children "decreased to the
non-detectable levels immediately after the introduction of organic diets and
remained non-detectable until the conventional diets were reintroduced," the
researchers reported in the online version of the scientific
journal Environmental Health Perspectives.(Draw your own conclusion)
When they ate organic foods, the children on average had zero malathion
detected in their urine, with a high of 7 parts per billion in one child.
But when the children returned to eating conventional foods, one child had
as much as 263 ppb and the average increased to 1.6 ppb.
For chlorpyrifos, the children had less than one part per billion when they
ate organic foods, but the average increased five-fold as soon as they
returned to their previous diet.
The findings suggest that children are exposed to organophosphate chemicals
mainly through food, not through spraying in homes or other sources. In
2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned most residential uses
of chlorpyrifos but has left most agricultural uses unrestricted.( I wonder why also)
Three other organophosphate pesticides that are not widely used on farms
and are more highly restricted by the EPA were undetectable in most of the
children, according to the study, directed by Emory University's Dr.
Chensheng Lu.
"In conclusion," the researchers wrote, "we were able to demonstrate that
an organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against
exposure to organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used in
agricultural production."

The author has written numerous articles on the benifits of organic foods and is considered an expert in his field. He is an advocate of saving our health and our planet. For The " Ultimate organic Lifestyle" you can see it here.- http://honestrich.aorganic.hop.clickbank.net/

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