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(Beyond Pesticides, October 28, 2024) STARTS WEDNESDAY—NATIONAL FORUM: IMPERATIVES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. As scientific articles and regulatory reviews by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focus on individual pesticides or families of pesticides and specific health outcomes associated with exposure, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), S. 5084, Safe School Meals Act (SSMA), proposes a holistic response to the protection of children by banning pesticides in school lunches. While focused on the elimination of certain individual pesticides and other chemicals of known concern, the bill unilaterally allows children to be served food from certified organic farms.
The overwhelmingly large body of scientific findings on the adverse effects of pesticides in the food that children eat in schools and generally. For example, last week Beyond Pesticides commented on EPA’s Draft Human Health and/or Ecological Risk Assessments for Several Pesticides, citing scientific findings that, “Neonicotinoids . . .have been found to affect mammalian nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) [which] are of critical importance to human brain function, especially during development and for memory, cognition, and behavior.” (See more here.) This month, Jennifer Sass, PhD, et al., in Frontiers in Toxicology, published a review of unpublished rodent developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) studies on five neonicotinoid insecticides—submitted to EPA by their manufacturers to support the chemicals’ registration—that exhibit evidence of developmental neurotoxicity. The authors report that in reviewing this data, “EPA dismissed statistically significant adverse effects, accepted substandard DNT studies despite lack of valid positive control data, and allowed neonicotinoid registrants to unduly influence agency decision-making.” The range of adverse health outcomes associated with pesticide exposure extends well beyond neurotoxic effects to cancer, immune system and respiratory effects, diabetes, endocrine disrupting effects that affect organ function, and more. For a catalog of the range of adverse effects, see Pesticide-Induced Disease Database.
S. 5084, Safe School Meals Act (SSMA) identifies four objectives:
- Directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set safe limits for heavy metals in school meals. The limits will be based on a threshold of reasonable certainty of no harm to school-age children from aggregate exposure. If the agencies fail to set these limits within two years, the limits will automatically be set to non-detectable until the agencies can determine a safe level of exposure.
- Banning glyphosate, paraquat, and organophosphate pesticide residues in school meals. Certified organic farms would automatically meet this requirement.
- Banning PFAS, phthalates, lead, and bisphenols in food packaging in school meals.
- Directing FDA to reevaluate food additives with known carcinogenic, reproductive, or developmental health harms, such as artificial food dyes, and ban their use in school meals prior to the completion of FDA’s analysis.
According to Senator Booker, “School meals should be a child’s safest source of nourishment, not another source of toxic exposure.” Although S. 5084 does not require organic school meals, the only way for a school to meet these objectives without bearing a large expense for testing is to buy organic food. Unfortunately, as pointed out by Kate Mendenhall, executive director of the Organic Farmers Association, “Most organic and small farms have not traditionally had access to school food purchasing programs.” S. 5084 will provide a strong incentive for schools to buy organic food for school lunches and thus, according to Mendenhall, will “open new markets for organic foods and help make organic certification affordable for small farmers.”
The Food Quality Protection Act, passed in 1996 as an amendment to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) requires regulation of endocrine-disrupting impacts of pesticides. Almost two decades later, EPA has failed to regulate endocrine-disrupting pesticides.
The review process in S. 5084 mandates that at least every five years the Commissioner of Food and Drugs must “determine potential adjustments to the maximum permissible levels of heavy metals and toxic metalloids.” Similar provisions exist for other toxic materials that this legislation is intended to regulate. Permissible levels of toxic substances—including PFAS, heavy metals, industrial chemicals, and pesticides—are now calculated without consideration given to the cumulative impacts (or toxic burden) across all exposures. In 2020, FDA acknowledged that half of food samples tested by the agency have toxic pesticide residues and one in ten samples have levels that violate legal limits established by EPA, according to the Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report. Consumer Reports recently updated its analysis of pesticide residues in various common grocery store products, finding that 20% of the foods tested pose a “high risk” to the public and 12 specific commodities are so dangerous that children or pregnant people should not eat more than one serving per day.
There are serious long-term health implications for children and youth exposed to the toxic soup of pesticide and chemical residues found in conventionally grown food. Research published in Environmental Pollution in 2022 identified children with higher levels of certain pesticide metabolites are more likely to go through early puberty. The American Academy of Pediatrics identified in a study published this year the proliferation of anti-microbial resistant infections resulting from overreliance on antibiotics in animal agriculture and resulting in potentially severe health risks for infants and children. Additionally, a 2024 study published in Environment International finds 60 biomarkers of pollutants and pesticides in hair analyses of children throughout France, which highlights the global crisis resulting from inadequate regulation of toxic chemicals. Despite the known health impacts of pesticide exposure, Congress may end up removing two-hundred-foot pesticide spray “buffer zones” around 4,028 U.S. elementary schools contiguous to crop fields depending on how Farm Bill negotiations move forward, according to an analysis by Environmental Working Group.
There are additional associated benefits for children who consume organic food. Sticking to an organic diet has reduced toxic pesticide residues in the bodies of U.S. children and adults, based on several studies published in 2019 in Environmental Health, and in two 2015 studies published in Environmental Health Perspectives and by the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health. A particularly noteworthy study published in 2014 in Environmental Research found that organophosphate pesticide metabolites in the urine of adults were reduced after just a week-long organic diet. A 2019 study published in Environmental Health, led by Barcelona Institute for Global Health, found that organic food consumption among children is directly associated with higher test scores, after measuring for fluid intelligence and working memory. Conversely, lower scores on fluid intelligence tests were associated with, among other factors, children’s fast-food intake.
The transition to organic food in school cafeterias is not a new policy concern. In a 2004 article published in Pesticides and You, School Lunches Go Organic: Science supports growing movement, numerous examples across the nation demonstrate a pathway forward for broader adoption of organic mandates. “Stonyfield Farm has sponsored organic programs at schools in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Connecticut,” according to the article. Additionally, the authors wrote, “An organic salad bar started at Lincoln Elementary School in Olympia, Washington has proven so popular and economically feasible, all grade schools in Olympia now have one. California school districts in Berkeley, Santa Monica, and Palo Alto also have organic food programs. In 2004, the Seattle school district adopted H61.01, Breakfast and Lunch Program Procedure, a policy banning junk food and encouraging organic food in school cafeterias.” More recently, Beyond Pesticides called for requiring organic school lunches in order to eliminate obesogenic pesticide residues.
S. 5084 also establishes a pathway forward for acknowledging organic food production as a public good and service by expanding funding for the Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to fully compensate farmers for certification costs, a long-term policy goal for organic advocates nationwide. It increases the funding available for schools to purchase safe school meals. Supporters of the bill include a broad spectrum of educational, health, environmental, and organic advocates, who welcome the continued leadership of Senator Booker in pushing forward legislation that eliminates a number of toxic residues from the National School Lunch Program and the elevation of organic food production on the national stage.
Letter to U.S. Representative and Senators:
I am writing to ask you to cosponsor S. 5084, Safe School Meals Act, introduced by Senator Cory Booker in September, which has four objectives:
*Directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set safe limits for heavy metals in school meals, based on a threshold of reasonable certainty of no harm to school-age children from aggregate exposure. If the agencies fail to set these limits within two years, the limits will automatically be set to non-detectable until the agencies can determine a safe level of exposure.
*Banning glyphosate, paraquat, and organophosphate pesticide residues in school meals. Certified organic farms would automatically meet this requirement.
*Banning PFAS, phthalates, lead, and bisphenols in food packaging in school meals.
*Directing FDA to reevaluate food additives with known carcinogenic, reproductive, or developmental health harms, such as artificial food dyes, and ban their use in school meals prior to the completion of FDA’s analysis.
School meals should be a child’s safest source of nourishment, not another source of toxic exposure. Although S. 5084 does not require organic school meals, buying organic food is a cost-effective way for schools to meet the bill’s requirements. EPA has still failed to advance the protections for children mandated by the Food Quality Protection Act, passed in 1996. In 2020, FDA acknowledged that half of food samples tested by the agency have toxic pesticide residues and one in ten samples have levels that violate legal limits established by EPA. Consumer Reports recently updated its analysis of pesticide residues in various common grocery store products, finding that 20% of the foods tested pose a “high risk” to the public and 12 specific commodities are so dangerous that children or pregnant people should not eat more than one serving per day.
There are serious long-term health implications for children and youth exposed to pesticide and chemical residues found in food grown in chemical-intensive agriculture. Research published in Environmental Pollution in 2022 identified children with higher levels of certain pesticide metabolites are more likely to go through early puberty. The American Academy of Pediatrics identified the proliferation of anti-microbial resistant infections resulting from overreliance on antibiotics in animal agriculture and resulting in potentially severe health risks for infants and children. A 2024 study published in Environment International finds 60 biomarkers of pollutants and pesticides in hair analyses of children throughout France.
Children benefit from organic food. An organic diet reduces toxic pesticide residues in the bodies of U.S. children and adults, based on several studies published in 2019 in Environmental Health, and in two 2015 studies published in Environmental Health Perspectives, and by Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health. A study published in 2014 in Environmental Research found that organophosphate pesticide metabolites in the urine of adults declined after just a week-long organic diet. A 2019 study published in Environmental Health, led by Barcelona Institute for Global Health, found that organic food consumption among children is directly associated with higher test scores. Conversely, lower scores on fluid intelligence tests were associated with, among other factors, children’s fast-food intake.
S. 5084 also expands funding for the Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to fully compensate farmers for certification costs, a long-term policy goal for organic advocates across the nation, and increases the funding available for schools to purchase safe school meals. Supporters of the bill include a broad spectrum of educational, health, environmental, and organic advocates.
Please cosponsor S. 5084.
Thank you.
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Don’t miss it! Beyond Pesticides’ 41st National Forum, Imperatives for a Sustainable Future—Reversing the existential crises of pesticide-induced illness, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency, begins on October 30 at 2-4pm (EDT) and then continues on November 14 at 1pm (EST). The Forum provides an opportunity to discuss with world-renowned scientists, from Germany and the United States, both (i) the hazards that define the urgency of threats associated petrochemical toxicants, with a focus on chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system (including pesticides) and lead to life-threatening diseases, and (ii) the strategy for adopting a path forward that tackles the problem holistically, rather than one chemical at a time.