Organics Foods, Pesticides and Sustainable Food Production
Thursday November 4, 2010
5:00 p.m. Eastern time
Sponsor: Health Care Without Harm
Long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides has been linked to an array of chronic health problems, including cancer; birth defects; neurological, reproductive and behavioral effects; and impaired immune function. Today, the entire web of life is contaminated with pesticides. From a human perspective, this contamination begins in the womb, where metabolites to common pesticides have been found in meconium and in fetal cord blood. Pesticides and their metabolites are now routinely part of the human body burden, the load of chemical contamination carried by human populations. Throughout the foods system the impacts of pesticides are observed on soil microorganisms, air and water quality, farmworkers, communities through pesticide drift and in the hive and pollen of honeybees, important agricultural pollinators. The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) has completed a literature review of pesticides and determined that, "The results of the systematic review do not help indicate which pesticides are particularly harmful. Exposure to all the commonly used pesticides ... has shown positive associations with adverse health effects." The literature does not support the concept that some pesticides are safer than others; it simply points to different health effects with different latency periods for the different classes. Not to be overlooked are the substantial public health costs of pesticide use. Cost of hospitalizations, outpatient cost, lost work, cancers and fatalities associated with pesticide poisonings have been estimated at $1.1 billion dollars annually. This presentation will provide an ecological health overview on agricultural pesticide use, strategies for reduction such as organic food production and policy opportunities for physicians. Presenters include Joel Forman, MD, of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Kathryn Gilje of Pesticide Action Network. Continuing education for physicians (CME) is available.
