> According to the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, the top two organic fungicides, copper and sulfur, were used at a rate of 4 and 34 pounds per acre in 1971. In contrast, the synthetic fungicides only required a rate of 1.6 lbs per acre, from 2.5X to 20X less than the amount of the organic alternatives.
Copper is a necessary nutrient (in small quantities), and, unless you have an unusual genetic condition, your body is well equipped to remove moderate amounts of copper. Sulfur, likewise, is everywhere.
The article goes on:
> Examples of organic pesticides include: Nicotine sulfate, Methyl bromide, Copper sulfate, Sodium hypochlorite, Gibberellic acid, Chlorine dioxide, Peracetic acid, Sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate, Lime sulfur, Azadirachtin, Spinosad, Calcium hypochlorite, Veratran D, Lignin sulfonate, Ferric phosphate, Copper oxychloride, Hypochlorous acid, Potassium hypochlorite, Rotenone, and Pyrethrins.
Lots of these don’t scare me.
All the hypochlorites and hypochlorous acid are forms of bleach. Highly toxic to fish, and not toxic at all when eaten in moderation. You probably have it at around 1ppm in your drinking water, and this is a good thing.
Peracetic acid is highly reactive. I doubt it leaves any meaningful residue.
Nicotine is not actually very dangerous in tiny quantities.
“Sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate” is more commonly called sodium percarbonate, and it’s a wonderful cleaning agent. It’s sodium carbonate plus hydrogen peroxide, which is magically quite stable as a solid. It’s the active ingredient in most tea/coffee stain removers, espresso machine cleaners, etc. It’s alkaline, so it’s quite irritating in concentrated form — don’t touch it before you rinse it well! But it’s totally harmless once diluted enough. (You can buy it in granular form at a reasonable price, and a soak in a half teaspoon or so mixed with a cup or two of very hot water will clean all kinds of things in your kitchen very nicely.)
I think people do it so they aren’t environmentally dirt bags. I’m sure the bits of plastic grocers sometimes add drive them crazy, though they’ll still pay twice as much for something maybe a little less attractive so they’re not the ones poisoning things.
