Study affirms benefits of organic farming.

• Author: Halweil, Brian
• Position: Environmental Intelligence - Less pesticide residue - Brief Article

A recent study confirms what proponents of organic farming have long argued: that organic foods carry less pesticide residue than conventionally grown foods. Organic standards prohibit farmers from using synthetic pesticides, but few studies to date have compared the pesticide levels of organic and nonorganic foods.

The study, published in the May 2002 issue of the food science journal Food Additives and Contaminants, found that organically grown foods were about one-third as likely to carry pesticide residues as the conventionally growls samples. All samples with traces of residue were within government limits, but in cases where organic produce tested positive, the trace amounts were minuscule. For example, the average organic spinach sample carried 0.008 parts per million of the insecticide omethoate, whereas the average conventional spinach sample carried 0.069 parts per million. The report also found that conventionally grown samples were six times more likely to contain residues of multiple pesticides, which can exacerbate the health effects of each chemical.

The study...