Common Sense Gardening - Interesting Facts

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FOOD:
'Today 99.9% of all pesticides we eat are naturally occurring' (Dr Bruce Ames Professor of Biochemistry University of California) In practice there are a vast number of natural chemicals about which we know very little or relatively few synthetic ones about which we know a lot.

RISKS TO HEALTH:
The risk to health from eliminating fruit and vegetables from the diet would far outweigh the risks posed by possible exposure to pesticide residues. Food Standards Agency.

LIMITS:
The EU limit on pesticides in drinking water is 0.1ug/l. That is 1 part in 10 billion. Put simply that is a pin head of chemical in an Olympic size swimming pool.

WHAT WE EAT:
Today in what we eat and what we drink we will ingest 10,000 times more naturally occurring pesticides than those made by the chemical industry. (Dr Bruce Ames)

INSECTS:
Current estimates are that insects, diseases and weeds destroy approximately one third of the world food supply, even with the use of the most current pest management technology. Losses without technology could soar to 60-80 percent. (Missisippi State University website)

CATS:
A recent survey by the Mammal Society showed that cats kill 275 million mammals and birds each year in UK. In the suburbs cats can be found at around 160 per sq km!!!. (The Mammal Society website)

CHEMICALS AND MAN:
Mankind uses about 30,000 chemicals and we do not know much about most of them. However because of the stringent regulatory regime for garden chemicals we do know a lot about them. (Radio 4 discussion on new EU legislation)

ON THE UP:
Pesticide use throughout the world has increased since the 1940s : however so has the average life expectancy. In 1950 the average life span in USA was 68 years. By 1970, that US resident was expected to live 70.5 years and by 1990 almost 75 years. (Food, Pesticides and Questions of Risk ICI Americas)