Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

thenation.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 183 posts

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#61

Post by stillbourne »

dictum wrote: post #27
stillbourne wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skepticism is dead.

Skepticism is a rather paradoxical word/concept to imply trust-by-default.

Skepticism doesn't imply trust-by-default. This article is an example of the shoddy work that is often performed by bad science "journalists" and used by the Chemophobic to push bullshit such as essential oils, naturopathic medicines, and MLM crapware. If you can't recognize that this is bad journalism that's not my fault. Its not that I "trust" the herbicide/pesticide companies that produce and manufacture these chemicals. Its that there exists a body of evidence that shows "most" of these chemicals to be safe. When the evidence changes to show that the chemical is not safe, what the mechanism is that causes the safety issue and presents data to back that up, I will change my mind. Because that is how falsifiablity works. It is not trust by default. It is rather that, to the best of our ability, with the science and techniques that are currently available, we cannot find an issue with this substance. When the science changes and new things are learned about our biology and how chemicals interact with our body and we re-evaluate those criteria based on those findings then we change the science. This article... is not that.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#62

Post by thfuran »

geddy wrote: post #28

Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.

>All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of

Is that supposed to be a meaningful measure of anything at all?

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#63

Post by standardUser »

Illniyar wrote: post #25

Is this supposed to be novel in some way that I'm missing? Of course you have chemicals in your body which are heavily sprayed on your food.

I just see it as a reminder that our food production system is set up in such a way that it is almost impossible not to regularly consume poison. Similar to the occasional article that reminds us, yes, the animals we eat were unnecessarily tortured before they made it to our plate.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#64

Post by goda90 »

sbzodnsbd wrote: post #10

Only 90?? What does the other 10 do to avoid pesticides????

Maybe they've mutated to be better at breaking down and ejecting the pesticides from their bodies? Or they live in remote communes where they grow all their own foods.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#65

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

rubicon33 wrote: post #34
geddy wrote: post #28

Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.

Curious about this part: > Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it. So are you saying this will help me STOP worrying that everything is trying to kill me? I'm kinda to the point where I feel like if you aren't eating organic broccoli for breakfast lunch and dinner, than you're killing yourself. So I'm not sure I need any MORE informatio…

The reality of the situation is that living will eventually kill you someday. It's merely a matter of how quickly you get there and how much you suffer along the way.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#66

Post by likpok »

Tobani wrote: post #36
hammock wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glyphosate is not approved for organic use so that's an irrelevant point. Whether total pesticide load (however you want to measure that) is higher or lower for organic vs conventional, varies widely with crop, location and farming method. There are toxic organic pesticides like copper-based compounds that persist in the soil. And things like strawberry fields are fumigated with methyl bromide regardless of organic o…

> Glyphosate is not approved for organic use so that's an irrelevant point. Actually it is a pretty interesting point.

Saying "there's less glyphosate therefore less pesticide" is poor reasoning, because glyphosate is replaced with other, generally more toxic, pesticides in organic crops.

It's interesting that organic crops have glyphosate despite it being banned for use with them, but that's a separate discussion.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#67

Post by jillesvangurp »

pagnol wrote: post #29
AndrewGaspar wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this comment kind of funny because the incredible byproduct of modern agriculture (including pesticides) is that the vast majority of the human race can now do something besides toiling away at food production.

Has it been proven beyond doubt that we wouldn't be able to produce enough food without the use of pesticides?

There are lots of examples of intensive farming in e.g. greenhouses and vertical farms that don't involve pesticides. That's in addition to loads of traditional farmers converting to organic farming and managing decent yields as well. So plenty of proof that it can be done and that it is being done. Whether it scales is more a technical challenge than a scientific question IMHO.

The real problem in farming is not cost but the fact that there are a lot of middlemen taking all the profits. Here in Europe, supermarkets sell produce for vastly more than the farmers ever see. I'm sure the same is true in the US. I'm guessing this is a huge factor in some farmers choosing to go for more lucrative organically farmed crops over the capital intensive traditional way of farming one of few staples using GMO seeds, lots of fertilizer, pesticides, etc. Supermarkets seem to love selling organic foods at twice the price. I doubt that the cost is anywhere near a factor 2.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#68

Post by JustSomeNobody »

thfuran wrote: post #62
geddy wrote: post #28

Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.

>All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of Is that supposed to be a meaningful measure of anything at all?

Not GP, but...

It's just an expression. Not everything has to be technical or technically correct to get a particular point across.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#69

Post by hinkley »

devmunchies wrote: post #7

Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.

The basic argument is that you can’t get enough calories from a back yard garden, for a city lot.

You can chose to purchase staple crops and get a considerable variety of produce and herbs from your yard, or you can dedicate every square inch to calories and die of malnutrition.

Or for less work, you can improve your quality of life by focusing on a smaller array of fresh produce and herbs from your yard, and buy everything else.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#70

Post by tracker1 »

geddy wrote: post #28

Watched a great documentary on Netflix called `Stink!` that was about all the crap found in all sorts of products under the hidden phrase "fragrance" (or in some cases, "parfum"). All sorts of chemicals you've never heard of to make those garbage bags smell like apple orchards. Very informative and, if you're like me and are constantly panicked that everything's trying to kill you, I recommend it.

That's a major factor of why I avoid seed (vegetable) oils as much as reasonable... Mostly stick to butter, lard, coconut oil and sometimes nut oils. If it isn't animal derived or cold pressed, I tend to avoid it.
Post reply on HN