> I didn't want to stir the pot but lately, on another thread, we have been reading about the difficulty in  removing bee keeper and  other ag chems from beeswax.

I would hasten to add there are other difficulties: the difficulty of detecting these chemicals and the difficulty in associating them with any plausible harm that could come of consuming such infinitesimal quantities of chemicals. There are far greater quantities of ag chemicals in other food products than in beeswax and honey. 

As we have stated before, Americans consume these traces of chemicals regularly and yet we are living longer than ever before. Most diet related illness has to do with eating too much, rather than what you eat. People that refer to chemical contamination often have no knowledge of chemistry, mass spectrography, parts per billion, or the scientific method.

As an example, look at The 20th Australian Total Diet Survey (A total diet survey of pesticide residues and contaminants)

The key results from the survey are:

> The estimated dietary exposures to antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, selenium, zinc and tin were within acceptable health standards. 

> Aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 and G2) and ochratoxin A were not found in any food tested, namely: breads, biscuits, rice, oats, processed wheat bran, breakfast cereals (including infant cereal), instant coffee, peanut butter, almonds and milk chocolate.

> A range of meats, dairy products, eggs, offal meat and infant formula were tested for inhibitory substances (penicillin G, streptomycin and oxytetracycline). These substances were not detected in any of these foods.

> The estimated dietary exposures to pesticide residues were all within acceptable health standards.

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/publications/20thaustraliantotaldietsurveyjanuary2003/20thaustraliantotaldietsurveyfullreport/

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Pete

> The opinions expressed here represent the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of those who hold other opinions.
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