How Toxic Are Organics?

Feb. 21 -- More often than not, Americans are facing a choice in produce shopping aisles — organic or not organic. But is one any safer, or better, than the other?

Hard data on whether residues from any pesticide are harmful remain scarce, but many people assume that organic means food that is healthier, and was not grown with chemical pesticides.

But a new report released by the Center for Global Food Issues has sounded a note of caution: Organic food may be grown with pesticides, too, and not only are organic pesticides widely used, they can pose as many risks as synthetic pesticides, according to the report.

Although organic brands now make up less than 3 percent of the global food market, surveys show that share is growing at a rate of up to 20 percent each year.

"I think there is a perception that what's natural isn't toxic," says Alex Avery, author of the report, 'Nature's Toxic Tools.' "But organic pesticides are also toxic."

Organic Pesticides Top the List

Avery points to data from the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy that reveal the most commonly used pesticides on U.S. farms in 1997 (the most recent year data were available) were oil and sulfur — substances which are considered organic pesticides.

Both of those organic pesticides are included on the list of acceptable substances for farmers abiding by the National Organic Standards Board, as issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last December. All foods labeled as organic will need to meet the new standards by the summer of 2002.

"Everything on that list [of acceptable pesticides] had to pass muster in terms of not posing certain health and safety risks," says Carolyn Brickey, a member of the National Campaign for Pesticide Policy Reform and chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

The kind of oil used on crops is commonly derived from petroleum or rape seed and works by forming a gummy barrier that tiny insects can't poke through. Sulfur, an organic fungicide, is derived naturally and keeps away fungus.