Organic Diets Reduce Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides

Summary

To determine whether consuming a largely organic diet reduces OP pesticide exposure in adults, a prospective, randomised, single-blinded, crossover, biomonitoring study was performed. The study involved 13 Australian adults who consumed a largely (>80%) organic diet or a largely conventional diet for 7 days and were then crossed over to the alternate diet for a further 7 days. Urinary levels of six dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites produced from OP pesticides, were analysed in first-morning voids collected on day 8 of each phase using GC-MS/MS, with limits of detection at 0.11-0.51 μg/L. Results, which were creatinine corrected to account for urine dilution or concentration, revealed that consumption of organic food for 7 days resulted in a statistically significant reduction in urinary OP metabolites. The mean total DAP results in the organic phase were 89% lower than in the conventional phase (M=0.032 and 0.294 respectively, p=.013). There was a significant 96% reduction in urinary dimethyl DAPs in the organic vs. conventional phase (M=0.011 and 0.252 respectively, p=.005), and a 49% reduction in diethyl DAPs which was not significant (M=0.021 and 0.042 respectively, p=.170). Overall the consumption of organic food resulted in a statistically significant reduction total DAPs and total dimethyl DAPs in urine indicating reduced exposure to organophosphate pesticides. Large scale studies are now required to confirm these results and determine their clinical relevance.