This article points up the need to know your grower. What is being sold as "organic" produce in the major grocery stores is highly suspect to those of us that know about "organic standards" which have been diluted to allow the major food companies to meet them.

Interesting, well written, and a much more balanced approach than many articles written on the same topic.

Dave

The following was stated: " As any toxicologist will tell you, it’s the dose that makes the poison."

H.Kuska comment. Oh? Please read the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Dose Makes the Poison--Or Does It?

I do not understand the point of the Rotenone versus Malathion RfD comparison in a discussion about brain damage to children: "Rotenone, a pesticide allowed in organic farming, is far more toxic by weight than many synthetic pesticides. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency sets exposure limits for the amount of a chemical that individuals (including kids) can be exposed to per day without any adverse effects. For Rotenone, the EPA has determined that people should be exposed to no more than 0.004 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. Let’s compare this toxicity to that of some commonly used synthetic pesticides, like the organophosphate pesticide Malathion.,,,,,,,,,Yet the EPA has deemed it safe, based on animal tests, for humans to be exposed to 0.02 milligrams of Malathion per kilogram of body weight per day. This is five times more than the amount deemed safe for Rotenone. In other words, by weight, the natural pesticide Rotenone is considered five times more harmful than synthetic pesticide Malathion."

The RfD for Rotenone is at
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris/index.cfm?fuseaction=iris.showQuickView&substance_nmbr=0344
AND AT
http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0344.htm

The RfD for Malathion is at:

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris/index.cfm?fuseaction=iris.showQuickView&substance_nmbr=0248
AND AT
http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0248.htm
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Please notice when the RfDs were determined and what experiments were used to determine them.

It does not appear (to me) that the test(s) used have anything to do with the known effects that these chemicals have on the brain.

To determine what effects, if any, these chemicals have been reported to have on the brain, I did the following Google Scholar searches.

For Rotenone:

Google Scholar search using the keywords rotenone and brain.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=+rotenone+brain&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
I then did a more restrictive search using the keywords rotenone and parkinson.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=rotenone+and+parkinson.&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
---------------------------------
I then did a search using the keywords malathion and brain.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=malathion+and+brain&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
I then did a more restrictive search using the keywords malathion and ADHD.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=malathion+and+ADHD&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
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Can anyone explain why the use of existing RfDs is sufficient to be useful regarding possible brain damage to young children?

Here is a link that might be useful: link to Google Scholar search using keywords malathion and ADHD

I found this article definitely worth reading:

http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2014/02/case-organic-over-conventional-fruits-and-veggies

It was linked to in the following thread:
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2014/02/07/are-organic-pesticidesor-the-fruit-itselfreally-worse-than-conventional-farming/

Here is a link that might be useful: Environmental Working Group link