> Contrary to assertions made that gamma radiation does 
> not affect pesticides

Nothing of the sort was asserted.  What was explained was 
that gamma radiation AT THE EXPOSURE LEVELS USED in the 
specific type of facility employed would have a negligible 
effect on pesticides, even pesticides that are designed to 
"break down in sunlight". 

Yes, if you massively increased the exposure to the beam by 
several thousand times, you'd start to break down pesticides. 
But which chemical bonds would break down first in the beam?  
The wax, the wood, or the pesticides? 

To grock the scale of difference, understand that irradiation 
facilities make their money killing bugs, bacteria, and other 
pests/pathogens.  When stuff is run through the beam, the 
exposure is >>>calibrated<<< to be sufficient to kill "every 
living thing" with the usual Bacillus stearothermophilus discs 
as the proof.  

On the other hand, when the pesticide makers talk about "UV exposure" 
and "sunlight breakdown" of their pesticides, they talk about how many 
HOURS of continuous sun exposure it takes to render their pesticide 
"harmless".

So, given that sunlight UV flux is several thousand times that of 
the gamma flux, and we've got hours and hours of exposure to that 
UV flux required to break apart the pesticide chemical bonds versus 
a few minutes (or even mere seconds) of gamma exposure in a typical 
"irradiation" pass to kill anything alive, we are talking about 
a massive difference in the number of photons per unit time over
the same area, with either type of photon powerful enough to break 
apart the pesticide molecules.  

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