b'SENSE, NONSENSE AND SCIENCEBY: JOE SCHWARCZAPPLE PICKING OF DATA CAN LEAVE A BAD TASTE I t isnt often that I find myself inalert consumers as to which fruits andthe Environmental Protection Agencys agreement with those gallant knightsvegetables harbour the most pesticidecarefully established maximum toler-at the Environmental Working Groupresidues and should therefore, if possible,ance level? These tolerance levels are (EWG) in the U.S. who are on a quest tobe purchased in their organic versions.based on determining the maximum rid the environment of those nasty chem- That may be the stated motive, but I sus- dose that causes no observed adverse icals that lurk in our sunscreens, cosmet- pect EWG is not averse to the donationseffects (NOAEL) in animals, and then ics, cleaning agents, and of course, in ourreaped by the wide publicity the Dirtybuilding in a hundred-fold safety margin food. But Ill ride along when they urgeDozen list generates.for humans.the public to eat more fruits and vege- The Dirty Dozen varies somewhatSo, how many of the 531 samples had tables, even conventionally grown ones,year to year, but apples are a mainstay.a residue of any pesticide that exceeded acknowledging that the health benefitsAs a result, Im accustomed to fieldingthe EPAs tolerance level? None! Zero! outweigh any risk posed by pesticidequestions along the lines of: Is it trueThe most widely detected residue, found residues. Call me a cynic, but I think thethat children should not be given apples?in 80 per cent of samples was dipheny-reason that EWGs annual press releasesWhy are apple growers allowed to profitlamine, used as an antioxidant to prevent alerting us to the most pesticide contam- from illness? How many apples can beapple scald, brown spots that form when inated fruits and vegetables lead off withsafely eaten in a week? Curious, sincealpha-farnesene, a naturally occurring this bit of sound advice is to help deflectapples are generally associated withcompound in apple skin is oxidized upon any accusations of fearmongering. Buthealth. After all, an apple a day is sup- removal of the fruit from cold storage. fear-mongering is an apt description ofposed to keep the doctor away. So how doThe EPAs tolerance for diphenylamine EWGs list of the Dirty Dozen fruits andapples end up on EWGs worst offendersis 10 parts per million. The mean of the vegetables.list? With some ingenious apple-pickingamount detected in the sampled apples While the list is of very questiona- of the data. at 0.28 ppm was 1/35th of the tolerance ble scientific merit, it is undoubtedly anThe United States Departmentlevel, which has a hundred-fold safety effective fund raiser. I have the dubiousof Agriculture runs a Pesticide Datafactor built-in!pleasure of being on the receiving endProgram that randomly tests a largeWhat about a cumulative effect? Like of EWGs frequent solicitations for dona- variety of fruits and vegetables everythe samples that had 12 different resi-tions: Its important to us, they say, toyear for pesticide residues. Samples aredues. Only 2 of the 531 samples had 12 be able to continue to provide you withpurchased across the country and testedresidues and none of these were detected this cutting-edge research and easy tofor residues of the close to 200 pesticidesat more than 10 per cent of the tolerance use consumer guide. Give just $10 todaythat are registered for use. The last yearlevel. That isnt exactly a blood-curl-and we will send you EWGs exclusivefor which data is available for apples ising statistic, is it? But nevertheless, the shopping note pad featuring our Clean2016 when 531 samples were analysed. EWGs Dirty Dozen, may scare people 15 and Dirty Dozen lists as a specialHere is a headline, a la EWG, thataway from eating apples. The fact is that thank you. Im not sure that mining acan be devised to reflect the findings.there is absolutely no need to worry about U.S. Department of Agriculture data base97 per cent of apples sampled wereeating them, conventional or organic, constitutes cutting edge research, andfound to contain pesticide residues withwhich incidentally can also have resi-Im even less sure of the usefulness of thesome being contaminated by as manydues of a number of pesticides allowed in consumer guide that is generated by cher- as 12 different pesticides. That soundsorganic agriculture. An apple a day may ry-picking the impressive amount of datapretty scary, but lets keep in mind thatnot keep the doctor away, but a dose of the USDA has collected.the presence of a residue does not equateperspective about pesticide residues will EWG claims that it is not out toto the presence of risk. So, how many ofkeep the Environmental Working Groups scare the public, that it only strives tothe residues detected were more thanfearmongering at bay. EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 13'