1 Million Children at Risk to Pesticides, Study Finds

In a controversial finding immediately disputed by food interests, an environmental group warned Thursday that more than 1 million children in the United States age 5 and younger are exposed to unsafe levels of pesticide residues in fruits, vegetables and commercial baby food.

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, said that even a few bites of such supposedly healthy foods as peaches, apples, nectarines and pears contain doses of pesticide residues that could cause long-term damage to a child’s brain and nervous system.

Food growers and chemical makers challenged the soundness of the group’s conclusions, questioning the research and arguing that the minimal pesticide residues pose no health threat whatsoever.

“Thousands and thousands of tests have been conducted for pesticide residues on finished products,” said Claire Regan, director of science and regulatory affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers of America. “The few residues that are found are well within safe limits for consumers young and old.”

The government’s Environmental Protection Agency took no sides in the debate. EPA officials said they had not had time to fully evaluate the environmental group’s study, adding that the agency expects to release its own assessment of the same pesticides in the next few months.

The pesticides, the agency said in a statement, “are at the top of the list” for review.

The group’s five-year study compared federal data on children’s eating patterns to government test results for residues of pesticides known as organophosphates. The study examined 80,000 samples of food.

Organophosphates have been used nationwide for 40 years to control insects.

Among the study’s conclusions: One of every four times a young child eats a peach, he or she is exposed to an unsafe level of pesticides, and one of seven apples may be “the hot one.” To a lesser extent, commercial baby food products--including apple juice, pears, applesauce and peaches--also contain organophosphate residues that consumers should be wary about, the study says.

“We’re definitely not recommending that [young children] stop eating fruits and vegetables,” said Richard Wiles, an official at the working group. But he urged parents to make sure they feed their children a variety of foods.

For instance, the group suggested young children eat more oranges, melons and bananas, which the study found contain lower levels of pesticide residues.

The working group, which makes headlines two or three times a year with its pesticide research, tends to be loathed by mainstream farmers but revered by members of the organic- and natural-farming communities.

California’s leading state agriculture official faulted the group for using questionable methodology to reach its conclusions and heavy-handed scare tactics in touting them.

“The Environmental Working Group . . . has again provided another set of overreaching exaggerations which bury science in emotional rhetoric,” said California Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman.

Carl Winter, a toxicologist at UC Davis, joined in criticizing the group’s methodology. But he added it is likely the EPA, in its study, will find that cumulative exposure to organophosphates exceeds the government’s strict “reasonable certainty of no harm” requirement.

According to the new study, children are more susceptible to pesticide-induced damages because their brains develop gradually over their first four years. The blood-brain barrier, which prevents the penetration of toxic substances into the human brain, does not develop fully until the age of 1.

As a result, children may suffer from learning deficits and attention disorders as well as short-term illnesses if the toxic substances reach their brains, the study concluded. The working group first reported in July 1995 that more than half the name-brand baby foods selected in a random study contained dangerous pesticide residues.

At the time, the EPA said the residue levels were too small to cause alarm. However, a 1996 law requiring more stringent monitoring of collective pesticide health risks prompted the agency to launch its own investigation.

By August 1999, the EPA must decide whether to set new standards for organophosphate use, which could include an outright ban or simply a change in the acceptable level that can be used on foods.

The working group is a project of the Tide Center, a San Francisco-based corporation that supports nonprofit organizations.

Times staff writer Martha Groves in Los Angeles contributed to this story.