The exposure of "pesticide tea" contains including methomyl, endosulfan and cypermethrin and other insecticides and carbendazim and benomyl, azoxystrobin, and and flucytosiliconazole and many other fungicides. How much of a health hazard are these pesticides? Will they affect fertility and fetal development?
Methomyl: also known as ethylcarbamate or methamidophos, is a broad-spectrum carbamate insecticide, a white solid. It is a white solid. Internationally, it is mostly allowed to be applied as a wet powder to cotton, tobacco, fruit trees and vegetables to control aphids, moths, tigers and other pests.
Cypermethrin : It is also known as Permethrin and Speedmethrin. It is a brown viscous liquid, medium toxicity insecticide, mildly irritating to rabbit skin, moderately irritating to eyes, but not found to have mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects on experimental animals.
Endosulfan : A structurally complex bis(hydroxymethyl)sulfite, a brown crystalline mixture of two isomers. Endosulfan is a highly controversial pesticide. Due to its high toxicity, bioaccumulation and endocrine disruptor effects, it has been banned in more than 50 countries, including the European Union, Asia and some countries in West Africa, but it is still widely used in many other countries, including India, Brazil and Australia. Because of the environmental threat posed by endosulfan, it is being considered for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention, which bans its global use and manufacture.
Dodemethrin and benomyl: Dodemethrin is a highly effective, low-toxicity systemic fungicide of the methyl carbamate group with systemic therapeutic and protective effects. The residue standard in food implemented in the United States is 0.08mg/kg. benomyl is a systemic fungicide, which is metabolized to carbendazim in the plant. Toxicity and carbendazim are basically the same.
From the above data, it is easy to see that, except for endosulfan, most of the detected pesticides are allowed to use. The toxicity of the above pesticides is low, and the impact on human health is small, and we have not seen the emergence of experimental reports on the impact of animal fertility and fetal development. According to the information released by WHO, some of them also have a clear daily allowable intake dose, such as the relatively large toxicity of the above pesticides, the daily allowable intake dose of cypermethrin can reach 0.06mg/kg.
However, Greenpeace's "Lipton" Tea Pesticide Survey Report 2012" pointed out that four samples*** contained 17 different pesticides. **contained 17 different pesticide residues, including seven pesticides not yet approved for use in the EU, such as endosulfan, dicofol and bifenthrin, which have been shown to affect male fertility and fetal health.
Three samples of Lipton green tea, Tieguanyin and jasmine tea were found to contain residues of carbendazim and benomyl. Carbendazim and benomyl are defined by the European Union as pesticides that may affect fertility and fetal development and may damage genes. Endosulfan in green tea samples and dicofol in Tieguanyin were identified as anti-androgens in a 2011 EU study; the same study also suspected that bifenthrin in three samples may interfere with male hormones and concluded that all three pesticides may affect male fertility.