> my assumption was that the level of harm scales with the power of the pesticide in humans just as it does in, well, pests. This is a highly questionable assu

> my assumption was that the level of harm scales with the power of the pesticide in humans just as it does in, well, pests. This is a highly questionable assumption that you'll need to support or abandon. It's as important as your later points about washing. For example, caffeine acts as a natural pesticide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Natural_occurrence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Natural_occurrence). It kills insects, but humans collectively consume 10 million tons per year. As another example, diatomaceous earth kills pretty much anything with an exoskeleton through a physical mechanism, but is completely non-toxic to mammals (prolonged breathing is not a good idea, though). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_contro...) It is convenient but erroneous to assume that all pesticides affect humans and pests equally.