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Michael Dourson: A true story about chemical risk and benefits
Michael L. Dourson, Ph.D., DABT, FATS, FSRA
Guest columnist
Our story is about a pesticide. People are often worried about pesticides because they are toxic chemicals. Pesticides are toxic, so that they can kill things like bugs.
DDT is a bug spray. It was outlawed in many countries because once you spray it, DDT breaks down very slowly in the environment. Since it stays around for a long time, it moves up the food chain and when birds eat bugs sprayed with DDT the chemical causes their egg shells to become thin.]
Michael Dourson: Hey toxicologists, is organic food safer to eat?
Michael L. Dourson, Ph.D., DABT, FATS, FSRA
Guest columnist
Pick just about any newspaper or journal and during the course of a year, one or more articles will be devoted to the benefits (or not) of organic foods and the downsides (or not) of conventionally grown food with pesticides and herbicides. These articles are often confusing.
So how does one sort them out?
Food, whether organically or conventionally grown, is a combination of chemicals, many of which our bodies need in order to function well. Organic food comes from plants grown without added pesticides, herbicides or genetic modification, whereas conventionally grown food may use one or more of these products.