Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2019
Abstract
Background: Introduction of an organic diet can significantly reduce exposure to some classes of pesticides in children and adults, but no long-term trials have been conducted. Objectives: To assess the effect of a long-term (24-week) organic produce intervention on pesticide exposure among pregnant women.
Methods: We recruited 20 women from the Idaho Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program during their first trimester of pregnancy. Eligible women were nonsmokers aged 18–35 years who reported eating exclusively conventionally grown food. We randomly assigned participants to receive weekly deliveries of either organic or conventional fruits and vegetables throughout their second or third trimesters and collected weekly spot urine samples. Urine samples, which were pooled to represent monthly exposures, were analyzed for biomarkers of organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid insecticides.
Results: Food diary data demonstrated that 66% of all servings of fruits and vegetables consumed by participants in the “organic produce” group were organic, compared totrans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid, was detected more frequently in women in the conventional compared to the organic produce groups (16% vs 4%, p=0.05). In contrast, we observed no statistically significant differences in detection frequency or concentrations for any of the four biomarkers of OP exposure quantified in this trial.
Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first long-term organic diet intervention study, and the first to include pregnant women. These results suggest that addition of organic produce to an individual's diet, as compared to conventional produce, significantly reduces exposure to pyrethroid insecticides.
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Publication Information
Curl, Cynthia L.; Porter, Jessica; Penwell, Ian; Phinney, Rachel; Ospina, Marai; and Calafat, Antonia M. (2019). "Effect of a 24-Week Randomized Trial of an Organic Produce Intervention on Pyrethroid and Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure Among Pregnant Women". Environmental International, 132, 104957-1 - 104957-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.104957