More than 50 chemicals, including 10 different organophosphates, are approved for use on bell pepper crops in the United States. Bell peppers are typically treated with insecticides two to six times during their growth cycle, as well as sprayed with herbicides, fungicides, fumigants, nematicides and algaecides. Conventional bell pepper growers often fumigate their fields with methyl bromide before planting to kill weeds and insects. Peppers may also get a dose of Gramoxone Extra (a brand of paraquat), a restricted-use pesticide that has greater acute toxicity to animals than most other herbicides.
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Excerpted from To Buy or Not To Buy Organic, copyright 2007 by Cindy Burke. Used by permission of Avalon Publishing Group.All Rights Reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.
