CHED 845 |
| Beth A. Wolensky and Renee L. Falconer. |
| Organically grown foods are thought to be a safer choice because of low or no pesticide residues. However, regulations for organic products do not control past-use pesticides sprayed decades ago. Since most of the organochlorine pesticides used from the 1960's to the 1980's have half lives in soils on the order of decades, many soils still contain measurable residues. Vegetables grown in contaminated soil, in particular root vegetables, can be exposed to these residues and organic farming practices are unlikely to lessen this exposure. This survey looked at the differences in pesticide levels in carrots from grocery stores grown conventionally and organically. Pesticides/metabolites analyzed include DDT, chlordane, oxychlordane, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin and hexachlorocyclohexane. OC pesticides were found at measurable, albeit low, levels in the carrots. The skins typically had higher levels than the flesh. On average, no difference in levels was seen between organically and traditionally grown vegetables. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, 27 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- Ex. Hall B4, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |