When It Comes to Pesticides, Farmers and Consumers Have a Choice
Over the last century US agriculture has become overwhelmingly dependent on pesticides. Today, 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the US annually and in 2017, about 459 million acres of US agricultural land were treated with some kind of pesticide. In addition to a number of adverse environmental externalities, pesticides have been shown to have numerous harmful health consequences for farmers and agricultural communities, while preliminary research has found potential health impacts of pesticides for consumers. Agricultural chemical producers have long had an outsized influence on federal regulations and the cost benefit analysis conducted by the EPA to determine pesticide legality has enabled the prioritization of industry benefits over environmental and health concerns. The NRDC has found that the majority of pesticides have been allowed onto the market without a public and transparent process, and in some cases, without a full set of toxicity tests. Many pesticides that are still widely used in the US at the level of tens to hundreds of millions of pounds annually have been banned or are being phased out in the EU, Brazil and China.
Organic agriculture offers an opportunity for farmers and consumers to opt out of a chemical based food system in favor of one that truly prioritizes human health and wellbeing.
The Effects of Pesticides on Farmers and Farmworkers
Even with the best management practices while handling and applying pesticides, farmers and farmworkers face both immediate and long-term harm from pesticides. In addition to performing activities directly related to pesticide use, they can face major exposure from direct spray and drift from neighboring fields, or through contact with pesticide residues. While data is limited, the EPA estimates there are thousands of acute poisonings each year among agricultural workers resulting in blisters, rashes, nausea, blindness, coma or death. Adverse health effects such as cancer, infertility, neurological disorders, and respiratory conditions can also result from long-term low level exposure. One study found associations between agricultural crops and the risk of lung cancer in agricultural workers. For example, winegrowers were at a higher risk of adenocarcinoma, pea growers were more at risk of developing small-cell lung cancer and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma was increased by fruit tree pruning, sunflower growing and pesticide use on beets.
Health Consequences Extend to Farm Communities and Consumers
Farmers are not the only ones suffering from direct exposure to pesticides. Studies have shown that pesticides can be carried home on farmers clothing and skin, putting their families at risk. Agricultural communities are exposed to higher rates of pesticides in drinking water and air and have a higher risk of developing Alzheimers, Parkinsons and multiple sclerosis. Children living in agricultural areas are at a higher risk of chronic health complications, including neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems, birth defects, asthma, and cancer. Researchers have found that mothers residing 1.5km-1.75km from agricultural pesticide applications during their third trimester had a significantly higher risk of having children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism compared to mothers without this level of exposure.
While farmers and agricultural communities are most at risk of the harmful effects of pesticide exposure, consumers regularly ingest pesticides through fruits and vegetables, fish, and contaminated drinking water, even in urban areas far from agricultural regions. Roughly 70% of US produce harbors traces of pesticides, even after being carefully washed or peeled, with strawberries, spinach and kale topping the list of produce with the highest pesticide load. More than 90% of the US population has detectable concentrations of pesticide biomarkers in their urine or blood.
There is still a fair amount of debate about the effects of consuming pesticides in trace amounts and the topic is under researched. One study found that consumption of fruits and vegetables with high levels of pesticide residue was associated with reduced sperm quantity and quality among men. Young children are particularly susceptible to pesticides and research suggests that even low levels of pesticide exposure can affect young children’s neurological and behavioral development. The journal Pediatrics published a study in 2010 which found that children with high levels of organophosphates (carbon-and phosphate-containing pesticides) were twice as likely to develop ADHA.
Bringing Chemicals to Court
Herbicides are the most common type of pesticide used, accounting for almost 90 percent of pesticide use in the agricultural sector. Monsanto, an agricultural company now owned by Bayer, is well known for their Roundup Ready seeds which are resistant to glyphosate, a systemic herbicide which is the main ingredient in “Roundup.” The combination of the two products allows farmers to spray entire fields with Roundup without losing their main crop. This approach made it drastically easier for farmers to deal with weeds, and the volume of glyphosate used in the US increased tenfold from 15 million pounds in 1996 to 159 million pounds in 2012. Herbicide resistant seeds account for more than 90% of corn, cotton, and soybeans planted today.
The EPA classifies glyphosate as noncarcinogenic but evidence of glyphosate’s toxicity has emerged in recent years. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an intergovernmental agency which is part of the WHO, classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015. A number of studies suggest that glyphosate stimulates breast cancer growth via estrogen receptors and a formal review of glyphosate by the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, released in 2019, found statistically significant links to some cancers like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Bayer has spent years trying to contain litigation around the health effects of Roundup and last year the company agreed to pay as much as $11.6 billion to resolve existing Roundup lawsuits from about 125,000 farmers and consumers in the US alleging that Roundup causes cancer. Juries in the three cases that have made it to court so far (two in California state courts and one in federal court) have found that Roundup not only causes cancer, but the company spent decades hiding the risks.
A Vicious Cycle
Despite the known risks, pesticide use has only increased in the US. What’s more, the ubiquity of pesticide use has led to herbicide resistance, the response to which has been to apply even more pesticides. When farmers repeatedly apply the same pesticides on crops they eliminate most of the susceptible population, but occasional pests and weeds with genetic variations that make them resistant to the pesticide will survive. When the same pesticides are applied year after year these resilient pests and weeds remain and multiply quickly until the whole population becomes resistant.
Herbicide resistance is becoming increasingly common and almost every state in the US has at least one type of weed resistant to herbicide applications. But rather than addressing the root causes of resistance, agrichemical companies release new formulations of herbicides which sometimes contain older, more hazardous chemicals like dicamba, atrazine, and 2,4-D. These reformulations can lead to substantial increases in the amount of chemicals sprayed on crops. As an example, the US is currently considering how to regulate Bayer’s developmental five-way herbicide tolerant corn trait, which will tolerate in season applications of five different herbicides. Groups such as the Center for Food Safety are lobbying the USDA to reject the petition.
Choosing Organic Over Synthetics
Despite the pervasiveness of pesticides, regular chemical application is not the only option for pest management. Organic production, which does not permit the use of synthetic pesticides, instead relies on a number of biological, mechanical and physical controls such as crop rotations, cover crops, tillage, and integrated pest management. By switching to an organic production system, farmers can drastically reduce their exposure and the vulnerability of farmworkers to toxic pesticides and their associated health consequences. The adoption of organic techniques is unquestionably the surest safeguard against chemical-related occupational health hazards. Reduced pesticide usage on farms also means less air and water contamination for surrounding communities and the general population.
The benefits of organic also extend to consumers. Studies have found organic diets are associated with significantly reduced urinary pesticide levels and that by switching from a conventional to organic diet, pesticide urine levels dropped to baseline within 3 days. A recent review published in the journal Nutrients, found that increased organic food consumption is associated with fewer incidents of infertility, birth defects, allergies, pre-eclampsia, middle ear infections in children, non-hodgkin lymphoma and metabolic syndrome which increases a person's risk for stroke. The notion that organic food may not just be less toxic but actually healthier also has some support. There have been some compositional differences demonstrated between organic and conventional foods, including higher antioxidant concentrations in crops, increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids in organic dairy products, and improved fatty acid profiles in organic meat products, but further clinical research is needed to fully understand these benefits.
The widespread use of pesticides is a hard habit to break. Decades of using pesticides as the first and only line of defense means that some older traditional knowledge about weed and pest management has been lost, making farmers more dependent on pesticides and less open to transitioning to a chemical free system. But as we gain a deeper understanding of the effects that pesticides are having on farmers as well as their communities and consumers, it's clear that modern agriculture’s reliance on pesticides is a threat to public health.
At Clear Frontier we are giving farmers the choice to grow food profitably in a way that does not jeopardize their health and the health of their families and communities. We also hope to give consumers the choice to opt out of a food system that has given rise to numerous unanswered questions about short and long term health outcomes, and choose one that is not chemically based. By helping farmers not only transition to organic but gain a nuanced understanding and literacy of the variety of nonchemical tools available to them to combat pests and weeds, we hope to support an agricultural system that is healthier for everyone.
