Pesticides in Our Food

A few weeks ago I covered a topic similar to this. In that post I discussed the difference in monetary cost of various different organic vs. non-organic foods. In this post I want to look at some of the reasons why organic would essentially be better for your health.

Last year in Malaysia there were massive fish deaths which caused a forced closing of the water treatment plant in Cameron Highlands. Upon testing of the water it was discovered that the cause of these deaths was excessive quantities of pesticides in the water. These pesticides can cause irreversible damage to human health as well as the environment. Pesticides are so freely used that they are essentially found in every living thing today. In this area in Cameron Highlands it was found that some farmers were even using pesticides that had been  previously banned. These pesticides affect human health through acute effects, chronic effects and sometimes both. Although farmers claim to be within the pesticide restriction set in place it is believed that these restrictions need to be amended because even with these limits set in place there are still traces of pesticides in almost all of our food.

If these pesticides are fatal to fish how is it even conceivable that they could be harmless to us? Yes, a fish is generally much smaller than a human however, if these pesticides are causing mass deaths among fish who is to say what they are doing to our bodies. Not only can a dose of pesticides cause immediate health problems that you would be able to notice right away but continually ingesting these chemicals can cause long term health problems that will be much more difficult to treat. Obviously treating any illness, whether short or long term, can cost a significant amount of money. Looking at this article and other ones similar to it I will leave you to draw your conclusions on whether or not it is really worth it to spend the extra money on organic foods, but it's as they say 'better safe than sorry.'

 

Idris, Mohamed. "Dangerous Residues in Our Greens." New Straits Times [Malaysia] 9 Mar. 2012: 19. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/>.