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the (magnitude of) risk isn't certain yet, but it's unlikely zero, given our history of poorly quantifying the harmfulness of a variety of substances. a reasona

the (magnitude of) risk isn't certain yet, but it's unlikely zero, given our history of poorly quantifying the harmfulness of a variety of substances. a reasonable hedge is to buy organic for the dirty dozen and non-organic for other produce. eat less processed sugar regardless, whether you replace it with fruit or not.

mherdeg 5y ago
Yeah the fact that it took us years to identify issues with like, BPA or trans fats -- and the constant churn on stuff like glyphosate where it feels like regulators continue to be slower than data -- have me worried. Maybe we should be buying more organic ... It's not any extra time and not overall a huge amount of extra money in the grocery budget.
- clairity 5y ago
  yah, washing produce thoroughly also helps reduce (but doesn't eliminate) the extra chemicals. these couple precautions don't add too much mental/physical burden, imo.
  - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
    From the article: “In terms of washing, it should remove some residues on the skin of a product (which will often be fungicides used to prevent rotting during storage and transportation). However, many modern pesticides are what are called ‘systemic’ which means that they are absorbed into the plant and distributed throughout its tissues, reaching any fruits or flowers. As a result, pesticide residues are often contained within the body of the produce itself and therefore washing the surface won’t remove them.”
    - clairity 5y ago
      yah, that’s what i’d dimly remembered from when i looked into it last. it’s good to wash right before eating to get rid of other contaminants too, but it won’t remove all pesticides.
Nicksil 5y ago
>the (magnitude of) risk isn't certain yet, but it's unlikely zero, given our history of poorly quantifying the harmfulness of a variety of substances. a reasonable hedge is to buy organic for the dirty dozen and non-organic for other produce. eat less processed sugar regardless, whether you replace it with fruit or not. If the goal is to reduce ingestion of substances applied to crops, then what you describe is not a reasonable hedge as both "organic" and conventional crops use pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. You're better off saving your money by buying conventional produce than spending extra money on the purchase of the same thing.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 5y ago
  It’s not about reducing substances–it is about substances that are healthy.
  - Nicksil 5y ago
    >It’s not about reducing substances–it is about substances that are healthy. I agree that such substances should not post a risk to human health, but there is no argument that organic crop products are any better for humans than conventional products.
- marcorx 5y ago
  The residue of pesticides in food is significantly lower, at least in EU. [1] Some useful points: - EFSA reports show that conventional agriculture exceeds the approved maximum residue levels more often and by a higher margin - A study in Sweden reveals a significantly higher (70x) exposure in conventional food vs organic [1] https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0315-4 https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-...

mherdeg 5y ago

Yeah the fact that it took us years to identify issues with like, BPA or trans fats -- and the constant churn on stuff like glyphosate where it feels like regulators continue to be slower than data -- have me worried. Maybe we should be buying more organic ... It's not any extra time and not overall a huge amount of extra money in the grocery budget.

clairity 5y ago
yah, washing produce thoroughly also helps reduce (but doesn't eliminate) the extra chemicals. these couple precautions don't add too much mental/physical burden, imo.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  From the article: “In terms of washing, it should remove some residues on the skin of a product (which will often be fungicides used to prevent rotting during storage and transportation). However, many modern pesticides are what are called ‘systemic’ which means that they are absorbed into the plant and distributed throughout its tissues, reaching any fruits or flowers. As a result, pesticide residues are often contained within the body of the produce itself and therefore washing the surface won’t remove them.”
  - clairity 5y ago
    yah, that’s what i’d dimly remembered from when i looked into it last. it’s good to wash right before eating to get rid of other contaminants too, but it won’t remove all pesticides.

Nicksil 5y ago

>the (magnitude of) risk isn't certain yet, but it's unlikely zero, given our history of poorly quantifying the harmfulness of a variety of substances. a reasonable hedge is to buy organic for the dirty dozen and non-organic for other produce. eat less processed sugar regardless, whether you replace it with fruit or not. If the goal is to reduce ingestion of substances applied to crops, then what you describe is not a reasonable hedge as both "organic" and conventional crops use pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. You're better off saving your money by buying conventional produce than spending extra money on the purchase of the same thing.

thrwn_frthr_awy 5y ago
It’s not about reducing substances–it is about substances that are healthy.
- Nicksil 5y ago
  >It’s not about reducing substances–it is about substances that are healthy. I agree that such substances should not post a risk to human health, but there is no argument that organic crop products are any better for humans than conventional products.
marcorx 5y ago
The residue of pesticides in food is significantly lower, at least in EU. [1] Some useful points: - EFSA reports show that conventional agriculture exceeds the approved maximum residue levels more often and by a higher margin - A study in Sweden reveals a significantly higher (70x) exposure in conventional food vs organic [1] https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0315-4 https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-...