M8.3 Pesticides

Last night I had a tuna sandwich for dinner, listed below are some of the ingredients, the number pesticide residues (PR), the human health and environmental effects that can be found due to them. The information was gathered by USDA Pesticide Data Program.

Ingredient	Number of Pesticide Residues	Human Health Effect	Environmental Effect
Tomatoes	35	3 — Known or Probable Carcinogens 12 — Suspected Hormone Disruptors 6 — Neurotoxins 3 — Developmental or Reproductive Toxins	10 — Honeybee Toxins
Hot Peppers	75	3 — Known or Probable Carcinogens 25 — Suspected Hormone Disruptors 16 — Neurotoxins 7 — Developmental or Reproductive Toxins	25 — Honeybee Toxins
Spinach	54	7 — Known or Probable Carcinogens 21 — Suspected Hormone Disruptors 11 — Neurotoxins 7 — Developmental or Reproductive Toxins	20 — Honeybee Toxins
Avocado	1	0 — Known or Probable Carcinogens 0 — Suspected Hormone Disruptors 0 — Neurotoxins 0 — Developmental or Reproductive Toxins	0 — Honeybee Toxins

Per the above mentioned ingredients here are the specific PR, How often it is found and the toxicity it causes:

Ingredient	Greatest Pesticide Residue found on ingredient	How often it is found?	Toxicity
Tomatoes	Endosulfan II	17.2%	Hormone Disruptors
Hot Peppers	Oxamyl oxime	19.7%	N/A
Spinach	Permethrin Total	51.9%	Carcinogens, Hormone Disruptors and Bee Toxins
Avocado	Imiprothrin	1.1%	N/A

I was honestly alarmed to find so many pesticides in the food I'm eating, even more alarming was the health and environmental effects due the exposure of the ingredients to the pesticides. I understand the blight of the farmer and their reasoning for needing to use the pesticides. If they don't use the pesticide their crops get destroyed which jeopardizes their livelihood. This is a vicious cycle because the farmers are using the pesticide for their sustenance and we're consuming their produce for our nourishment but at the end of the day both farmer and consumer are victims of pesticide exposure. Agricultural research needs to be a priority and safe alternatives to pesticides should be studied and promoted. Farmers should receive incentives for utilizing pesticide alternatives and policies should be sent in place to ban toxic pesticides. Once pesticides are banned in the U.S., the companies that produce them shouldn't be allowed to produce or distribute them outside of the U.S. either. And if these companies continue to produce and distribute these banned products heavy fines and criminal charges should be applied against them for causing human and environmental endangerment.