Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 29, 1995 TAG: 9508290055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Many samples of other fruits and vegetables showed no pesticide traces at all. Three-quarters of the broccoli samples and nearly half the lettuce had no detectable residues.
``These data reinforce the fact that the nation's food supply is one of the safest in the world,'' said Lon Hatamiya, administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, the agency that did the study.
Critics, however, say it's wrong to make safety judgments based on current tolerances - the level of pesticide residues determined by the Environmental Protection Agency to be safe. Also, they say, the government's approach of regulating each pesticide individually fails to recognize the combined effect of various chemical compounds on one piece of produce.
``The important part is to look at preventing exposure to these things rather than figuring out what is the acceptable poison,'' Kert Davies, analyst for the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, said Monday.
Of the 7,328 samples taken, 110 had pesticide levels above the legal limits - 1.5 percent. Imports, though smaller in volume, had a higher violation rate - 2.4 percent - compared with 1.3 percent for U.S. fruits and vegetables.
Larry Elworth, the department's special assistant for pesticide policy, said most of the residues were within a margin of safety recommended by the academy for children.
The Agriculture Department began data collection in 1991. In 1993, the department tested fresh apples, bananas, broccoli, celery, carrots, green beans, grapefruit, grapes, lettuce, oranges, peaches and potatoes. The apples were washed and cored, the bananas were peeled and the other samples were prepared as if ready to cook or serve.
The scientists, using equipment that can find even the tiniest amount of pesticide, discovered 10,329 residues, meaning some fruits and vegetables had more than one residue.
Apples, the most popular fruit, had the highest number of residue detections. Ninety-seven percent of the 654 samples had residues. Celery followed, at 93 percent, and peaches had residue in 91 percent of samples.
The percentages then dropped, to 79 percent for oranges and potatoes, 75 percent for grapes and 72 percent for grapefruit, followed by green beans, 66 percent; carrots, 65 percent; bananas, 61 percent; lettuce, 51 percent; and broccoli, 25 percent.
The amounts detected were extremely small. Thiabendazole, a fungicide, was found on 62 percent of the apples. The EPA allows a residue of 7.6 parts per million. Nearly all the thiabendazole residues were at 11 percent of that allowed level or lower.
Diphenylamine, used to keep apples from ``scalding'' or turning brown during shipment, was found on 53 percent of the apples, but at no more than 15 percent of the allowed levels. Azinphos-methyl, an insecticide, was found on nearly one-third of the apples, but at less than 5 percent of the allowed level.
by CNB