Peter Borst wrote:
> During the 1990s, it
> came as a surprise that many industrial chemicals can interfere with
> the hormone systems of many species, including humans. 
Organophosphates would be the key culprit on farms. They were a staple 
pesticide for years until exactly this problem was discovered. They are 
no longer allowed but are still around as exceptions. They were also in 
may pet treatments like flea and tick killers, including house "bombs" 
that you fogged the room. It would be interesting to see if the 
correlation also existed with farm women and if they had pets compared 
to those who did not. They could have as easily been effected by pet 
pesticides as the farm chemicals. Truth is, there are generally more 
controls over farm application of pesticides than household.

It is not unusual to find that some chemicals that were thought benign 
are harmful, but care has to be exercised in blanket condemnations, 
since some of the tests are slanted to the ridiculous, especially when 
it comes to carcinogens. Just remember the whole saccharin fiasco.

There are several so called carcinogens which are actually anti-cancer 
agents when found in their normal concentrations in food or cooked food 
(especially grilled food). However, when tested in the concentrations in 
a lab, they are carcinogenic.

The same chemical can be good or bad depending on its application or 
concentration. Unfortunately, propaganda can cloud the truth in both 
directions. To me, that is the issue we are wrangling about in the whole 
"natural" beekeeping discussion. It seem to be an either/or issue with 
no rational middle. But that is not unusual. I practice "organic" 
beekeeping and gardening but have no issue with those who use pesticides 
or fertilizer, since I have used both in the past for specific issues. I 
will spray my peaches next year because of fungus and to save the trees.

I do not spray my apples. But I do not sell them either since they all 
are damaged to some degree. I spoke to an organic expert about apples 
and his conclusion was just as I experienced, you need to spray to get 
clean fruit. (Yes, I know there are disease tolerant apple varieties, 
but have you tasted them? I chopped down the one I had just because it 
was so inferior to my other apples.) He would not let me quote him by 
name since he would have been condemned for going over to the enemy not 
so much from the leadership, but the members. Too many nuts among the 
berries.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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