How much pesticide exposure is too much?
Depends on the pesticide. Depends on the person. Depends on the timing and type of exposure. What we do know is this: Pesticide regulations in the U.S. are well behind much of the rest of the industrialized world. This is mostly because agrichemical corporations like Monsanto have too much influence in Washington, but also because pesticide regulation in the U.S. does not adequately account for things like additive and synergistic effects. Since the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) regulates most chemicals on a chemical-by-chemical basis, the combined and cumulative effects of a mixture of pesticides are nearly impossible for them to address – and so they usually don’t. Given the complexities of chemical causality and disease-formation, the smart solution would be to follow the European Union’s lead and adopt the “precautionary principle” as the basis for regulatory decision-making. Put simply, this approach prioritizes protecting human health when there is significant doubt ab
