Driving under the influence of Potatoes
The news this week is that Bayer AG is slowly reducing the production of a pesticide that regulators have determined to cause a safety risk to infants and young children. This chemical will, however, remain in use for another eight years. The EPA says the pesticide aldicarb, AKA Temik, “no longer meets the rigorous food and safety standards and may pose unacceptable dietary risks, especially in infants and young children.” I guess there were not rigorous standards in 1985 when half of the US and Canada where poisoned from eating Temik treated watermelons. For the documented case, click here. As a result, Bayer has agreed to stop producing Temik for use on citrus fruit and potatoes. However, farmers can still use it on these crops until the end of 2011.
Sorry Jimmy, you are just not old enough to eat those potatoes, why don’t you go ride that carnival rollercoaster with your shotgun instead. That’d be safer.
Ah, shucks mom.
So Temik may pose unacceptable dietary risks, especially to infants and young children, but don’t take it off the shelf yet! Production of Temik for other foods will stop by December 31, 2014 and then anything left over needs to be used up by August 2018. This will allow farmers to use anything they have left over in their toxic storage. Excuse me? What? Is it an inconvenience for you to have those products returned, Bayer? I know, it must be because of Wal-Mart. Their policy for allowing returns has given everyone a bad taste in their mouth because of the insanely long return lines. Thanks Wally!
While Temik stays in use, the label will change for our safety. They have decided that Temik is acceptable if they lower the amount that can be used on crops. I guess this will reduce the chances of kids glowing green at night. Crops that commonly use Temik are peanuts, cotton, soybeans, citrus and potatoes. Side effects of the aldicrad chemical are possible sweating, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. I should put the side effects in really, really small print or it would be cool if I had someone say the side effects super fast. Long story short, never operate heavy machinery or drive under the influence of potatoes.
Anyone else think it is strange that they are only going to stop using it on citrus and potatoes right away? I mean, with citrus foods, we remove the treated peels before we eat them. Yet, it will still be ok to use this chemical on foods we eat whole and in everything, like soybeans? If they are going to stop using Temik on some foods, why not all foods?
As for Bayer AG’s response to all of this, they said the agreement does not mean Temik poses any safety concern. Bayer AG claims they are cooperating with the EPA even though they do not fully agree with the agency’s assessment. So, next time you see the label for Temik, notice the skull and crossbones and remember Bayer’s claims that the product poses no safety concerns. After 40 years of dangerous use, Temik deserves to be taken off the selves.
