----- Original Message -----
From: "Wes Peterson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 1:42 AM
Subject: Cooked Fungicides (Was: An instincto's comments)


Hi Wes ,

Thanks for the quoting below. It shows that pesticides are not destroyed by
cooking as most people believe. I knew organochlorines wouldn't, but I
didn't know the fate of organophosphates. They are not destroyed at all by
cooking, but rather concentrated and sometimes broken down into more
dangerous compounds!

Where are you? In New-Zealand?

Thanks also to Jean-Claude for translating "buckwheat"in French.

Francois


> However, I found some other info regarding this subject:
>
> Quoting from
>
http://www.soil-health.org.nz/organicnz/proceedings/PESTICIDESINFOOD.htm --
>
> ***
> The dithiocarbamates are a group of fungicides including mancozeb,
metiram,
> zineb and ziram which have a metabolite called ethylene thiourea (ETU).
This
> breakdown product is a known endocrine disruptor, carcinogen, mutagen and
> teratogen, and can concentrate upon processing and heating. In other
words,
> if you cook a vegetable which has been sprayed with mancozeb (the most
> common), you will be increasing the amount of the dangerous metabolite.
>
> Over 60% of the 138 samples of fruit and vegetables analysed for
> dithiocarbamates in the latest total diet survey contained them. The 17
> fruit and vegetables ranked in order according to occurrence and mean
> concentration are: broccoli, cabbage, tomato, celery, lettuce, onions,
> cucumber, apples, oranges, mushrooms, potatoes, courgettes, kumara,
> nectarines, pears, capsicum and kiwifruit.
> ***
>
> Wes
>