Since organic farming applies strict restrictions on the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, the most direct consequence, obviously, is that eating organic food means not ingesting such substances. And that is indeed what happens, as has been demonstrated once again by a study published in Environmental Research and carried out by researchers at the University of California, who focused on the presence in the body of certain pesticides that have so far been little investigated in this regard.

How the study on organic food was conducted

Four families of different ethnicities, made up of between three and five people — adults and children — and living in different parts of the United States (Oakland, Minneapolis, Baltimore and Atlanta) were asked to collect urine samples for twelve days: six days before and six days after switching to an organic diet. The scientists then analysed the various samples received, detecting a reduction or complete elimination of pesticides and precursor compounds in the urine from the days on which the families had eaten organic food.

Pesticides and their effects on the body

In particular, organophosphates had fallen by 70 per cent, chlorpyrifos by 61 per cent and malathion by 95 per cent, while the herbicide 2,4-D fell by 37 per cent. Pyrethroids (insecticides and acaricides) were also found to have halved, and a neonicotinoid that was detected had decreased by 84 per cent. These are substances that several studies have linked to diseases and disorders such as autism, interference with cognitive and sexual development, cancers, liver and endocrine damage, and Parkinson's disease.