>>  Its widely known that the EPA levels for Amitraz, Fluvalinate and
Comaphous are high enough most beekeepers can skate by. Does that mean
then the honey is not contaminated?

To put this in perspective, we are talking about parts per billion in
a product that for most folks is a condiment. Speaking of
tetracycline, one beekeeper pointed out that to get enough of it to
treat an infection, you'd have to eat a semi-load of honey.

Further, most of our food and beverage products have detectable levels
of chemicals. This is not good but it may be unavoidable. In the
following report, more than 60% of the food products had detectable
residues, but only 0.2% (two tenths of one percent) exceeded legal
limits -- that's 25 samples out of more than ten thousand tested.

* * *

A total of 10,154 fresh and processed fruit and vegetable samples, 668
soybean samples, 306 soybean rust/aphid survey samples, 674 wheat
samples, 746 milk samples, 369 heavy cream samples, 704 pork samples,
378 bottled water samples, and 750 drinking water samples were
analyzed for various pesticides including insecticides, herbicides,
and fungicides.

Overall, 73 percent of fresh fruit and vegetables and 61 percent of
processed fruit and vegetables showed detectable residues. More
residues were detected in fresh produce than in processed products and
grains. Residues detected in dairy products and pork samples were
primarily lowlevel residues of unavoidable environmental contaminants
including DDE p,p' and dieldrin. Additionally, low levels of
diphenylamine were detected in dairy products.

Excluding drinking water, 34 percent of samples tested contained no
detectable pesticides [parent compound and metabolite(s) are
combined], 30 percent contained 1 pesticide, and 36 percent contained
more than 1 pesticide. Low levels of environmental contaminants were
detected in cantaloupe, cauliflower, green beans, heavy cream,
lettuce, milk, pork, watermelon, and winter squash at concentrations
well below levels that trigger regulatory actions.

Excluding samples for which no tolerances are set (bottled water and
drinking water), residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.2
percent of the 13,621 samples tested in 2005 – 25 samples with 1
residue each.

Residues with no established tolerance were found in 4.2 percent of
the samples (570 samples with 1 residue each, and 2 samples with 2
residues each). In most cases, these residues were detected at very
low levels and some residues may have resulted from spray drift or
crop rotations.

In finished drinking water, PDP detected low levels (measured in parts
per trillion) of some pesticides, primarily widely used herbicides.
Forty-eight different residues were detected in the untreated intake
water and 43 in the treated water. The majority of pesticides,
metabolites, and isomers included in the PDP testing profiles were not
detected. None of the detections in the finished water samples
exceeded established EPA MCL or HA levels or established FAO criteria.

Pesticide Data Program
Annual Summary Calendar Year 2005
www.ams.usda.gov/pdp

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