Use the pulldown menus to visit other Food Central sections:
Recipes ---------- Today Recipe Swap	Resources ---------- Additives Alcohol Beer Beverages Coffee Dairy Fat Fruit Grains Herbs Italian Meat Organic Seafood Snacks Southern Sweets Tea Veggies Vitamins	Restaurants ---------- Atlanta Baltimore Boston Chicago Dallas Denver Detroit Fort Worth Houston Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis New Orleans NYC Orlando Philly Phoenix Pittsburgh Salt Lake San Antonio San Diego San Fran Seattle St. Louis Wash, D.C. ---------- Amsterdam Athens Bangkok Beijing Berlin Brussels Cairo Copenhagen Dublin Florence Frankfurt Hong Kong London Madrid Mex City Montreal Moscow Munich Nairobi Paris Prague Rio Rome Singapore St. Pburg. Sydney Tokyo Toronto Vienna Zurich

The American Academy of Pediatrics says children, because of their smaller sizes, are exposed to more pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables than adults
NUTRITION COMPARISON:
Compare the nutritional values of fruits Compare the nutritional values of vegetables
MESSAGE BOARD:
Do you worry about pesticides in food?
ALSO:
How safe is your produce?

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Recent reports about pesticide residue on produce -- and the effects of those residues on children -- may leave consumers confused.

Health experts remind the public to always wash fresh produce thoroughly, using a lot of water, or peel or cook fruits and vegetables. If anyone is still concerned, there is always the option of organic produce, which contains virtually no pesticides at all.

Recent reports indicate that children are particularly susceptible to the low levels of pesticide that sometimes remain on domestic and imported produce.

"Children eat 10, 20, 30 times greater in amount than adults, and they have smaller bodies. So in a milligram-per-pound body weight, they are exposed to much, much more of the pesticide placed on these products compared to an adult," said Dr. Michael Shannon of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

However, most doctors still emphasize the benefits of fruits and vegetables in children's diets. Those benefits far outweigh potential harm, they say, because they provide essential vitamins and nutrients that growing bodies need.

Fruits and vegetables put to the test

A Consumers Union study of 27 foods found that some of the residual pesticide levels were too high to be safely consumed by young children.

The study, released February 18, was one of the largest ever to examine pesticide residues on produce. Consumers Union said it didn't want to scare parents, but sought to help them make more informed decisions.

The Environmental Working Group, an environmental lobby, has urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban the pesticide methyl parathion, which is used largely on fruits and vegetables children eat frequently.

The group's report, issued Thursday, said the chemical's residues can remain -- even on washed fruit -- in levels that will exceed EPA standards in children.

Most doctors agree that the benefits of fruits and vegetables in children's diets far outweigh potential risks

The studies have drawn criticism from the produce industry. The Produce Marketing Association called the reports about pesticide residues alarmist and irresponsible.

"Those who argue that consumers are at risk from the minuscule pesticide residues on fresh fruits and vegetables are simply ignoring the facts and are doing consumers a grave disservice," the association said in a statement.

Children eat more fruit and vegetables than adults, and they're smaller. Therefore, according to the National Academy of Sciences, laboratory tests on pesticide residue that are used to set limits for adult tolerance are not strict enough for children.

"Children are being exposed to large amounts of pesticides daily throughout their diet -- cumulatively, over the first 5, 10, 15, 20 years of their lives, when they are trying to have their brains, their kidneys, and their liver become perfectly functioning organs," Shannon said. "These chemicals can interrupt this process."

EPA studying pesticides as well

The EPA is in the middle of a multiyear review of allowable pesticide levels, a survey mandated by a 1996 law. The agency faces an August deadline to recommend new standards for the first third of the 9,000 chemicals on its list.

Although most of the produce tested today falls within legal limits, some experts argue that experts don't take into account the long-term, cumulative exposure children face.

"If an effect were to occur in 30 years, for many adults, that might not be that important," said Dr. Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But a child of 5 years old -- in 30 years they will be 35, and that is something that would be of great concern."

EPA Administrator Carol Browner says the agency is reexamining exposure levels deemed safe for children as part of its review.

"We are reviewing whole categories of pesticides, particularly when it relates to the diet of our children and what's on their dinner plate," Browner said. "In the meantime, a balanced diet is extremely important to raising healthy children."