ARTICLE: 5 Pesticides We Consume Every Day

The following is an excerpt of an article by Kavin Senapathy via Forbes on "5 Pesticides We Consumer Every Day."

Ah, mornings. Some pop perkily out of bed while others hit snooze; some dash out the door sans breakfast while others break the night’s fast and wash it down with a nice invigorating cup of…pesticide?

The horror contained in that word, the thought of a pesticide lurking in our morning beverage is perhaps more alarming than the ringtone jarring us from peaceful slumber. Any substance that repels or kills a pest, pesticides aren’t necessarily synthetic substances concocted by scientists in corporate labs.

While the perilous p-word may conjure visions of skull-and-crossbone emblazoned bottles, the truth is that a glass of orange juice or cup of coffee contain naturally occurring pesticides, as do other foods we consume regularly.

As Dr. Layla Katiraee, scientist and science communicator explains in a piece called, “Natural pesticides: what have I been eating?!?!”:

We’re used to thinking of pesticides as the stuff we spray on plants or around our house to get rid of bugs. But the term ‘pesticide’ is much broader than that: it’s any substance that gets rid of or repels a pest. The term encompasses many different -cides: herbicides (to get rid of plants), fungicide (to get rid of fungi), insecticides (to get rid of insects), etc, etc.

Farmers use synthetic or naturally-derived pesticides to help protect their crops from damage. Without them, yield would be lower, farms wouldn’t thrive, and infectious agents could enter our food supply. With recent headlines condemning the synthetic ones of late, blaming them for cancer, bee deaths and microcephaly cases, there is widespread confusion about what a pesticide is, where they come from and what they do.

This confusion fuels two common misconceptions: 1) All pesticides are harmful and 2) All pesticides are man-made. Plants, many of which we consume regularly, produce “natural pesticides” that kill or repel other organisms that might harm them. Whether man-made or natural, these -cides can harm us; it all depends on the dose and route of exposure. A central tenet of toxicology, “the dose makes the poison” adage dictates that all substances, from water to wine, dish soap to Dom Pérignon, can be toxic.

Read the full article here.