6 ms·

Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. Unfortunately, USDA has been doing a terrible job with their USDA Organic certification. It is firstly very expen

Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. Unfortunately, USDA has been doing a terrible job with their USDA Organic certification. It is firstly very expensive. Secondly, it is no guarantee that glyphosate is not present. This could be due to fraud or negligence. Third, it is subject to lobbying to legalize nasty synthetic pesticides as being Organic. The USDA needs to step up and do its job. Meanwhile, I nevertheless advocate buying Organic. Use a warm solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in which to dissolve fruits like apples and others for 12-15 minutes. It helps dissolve a fair portion of the pesticides, but is not a substitute for buying Organic. Refer to https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-soda-washes-all.html https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-s...

jcranmer 7y ago
> Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. This is patently false. Natural pesticides and herbicides are almost always more toxic to humans than synthetic pestices and herbicides, in large part because minimizing human toxicity is one of the goals in the chemical research programs.
- alexandercrohde 7y ago
  Source please?
- dqv 7y ago
  What are some examples of organic pesticides that are less safe than glyphosate?
  - chicob 7y ago
    Rotenone, a naturally ocurring herbicide. Known cause of Parkinson's disease.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    Isn't "less safe than glyphosate" is a weird metric, since glyphosate is relatively safe compared to other chemical herbicides? Wouldn't atrazine be a better comparison?
  - jcranmer 7y ago
    Copper sulfate is one.
    - pkaye 7y ago
      Copper Sulfate is toxic to birds, mammals, insects, etc. It has a lower LD50 than glyphosate. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic-than-glyphosate-copper-sulfate-used-by-organic-and-conventional-farmers-cruises-to-european-reauthorization/ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic...
    - petre 7y ago
      The funny thing is that copper sulphate is actually an inorganic substance while glyphosate is an organic substance.
    - lumberjack 7y ago
      No it isn't. It does not have any long term exposure effects due to ingestion of residue on produce.
      - jcranmer 7y ago
        Nor does glyphosate. No one has been able to demonstrate health effects due to pesticide residue. Even studies purporting to show health effects for glyphosate do so at concentrations associated with handling the chemical in bulk, not at concentrations associated with consumption of residue.
        mehrdadn 7y ago
        > Even studies purporting to show health effects for glyphosate do so at concentrations associated with handling the chemical in bulk Do more well-accepted organic pesticides have these kinds of problems with bulk handling? Because otherwise I feel like this should be reason enough to avoid it.
        JamesBarney 7y ago

jcranmer 7y ago

> Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. This is patently false. Natural pesticides and herbicides are almost always more toxic to humans than synthetic pestices and herbicides, in large part because minimizing human toxicity is one of the goals in the chemical research programs.

alexandercrohde 7y ago
Source please?
dqv 7y ago
What are some examples of organic pesticides that are less safe than glyphosate?
- chicob 7y ago
  Rotenone, a naturally ocurring herbicide. Known cause of Parkinson's disease.
- tptacek 7y ago
  Isn't "less safe than glyphosate" is a weird metric, since glyphosate is relatively safe compared to other chemical herbicides? Wouldn't atrazine be a better comparison?
- jcranmer 7y ago
  Copper sulfate is one.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    Copper Sulfate is toxic to birds, mammals, insects, etc. It has a lower LD50 than glyphosate. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic-than-glyphosate-copper-sulfate-used-by-organic-and-conventional-farmers-cruises-to-european-reauthorization/ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic...
  - petre 7y ago
    The funny thing is that copper sulphate is actually an inorganic substance while glyphosate is an organic substance.
  - lumberjack 7y ago
    No it isn't. It does not have any long term exposure effects due to ingestion of residue on produce.
    - jcranmer 7y ago
      Nor does glyphosate. No one has been able to demonstrate health effects due to pesticide residue. Even studies purporting to show health effects for glyphosate do so at concentrations associated with handling the chemical in bulk, not at concentrations associated with consumption of residue.
      - mehrdadn 7y ago
        > Even studies purporting to show health effects for glyphosate do so at concentrations associated with handling the chemical in bulk Do more well-accepted organic pesticides have these kinds of problems with bulk handling? Because otherwise I feel like this should be reason enough to avoid it.
        JamesBarney 7y ago