Kids need organics. (updates).(organic produce)

A study at the University of Washington in Seattle' has confirmed what had only been a logical assumption until now. Children who eat organic produce are less likely to consume dangerously high levels of pesticides.

Animal studies have shown that exposure to chemicals in early life can cause, or can increase, vulnerability to cancer later in life. But few human studies have examined not only the chemicals present in various foods but also the amount of such substances that children consume.

The report reviews several human studies that suggest a causal relationship between developmental exposure to contaminants and cancer in children and young adults. Studies reviewed include brain cancers in children whose parents were exposed to contaminants while on the job; pesticides, paints, paint thinners and solvents and leukemia; and cigarette smoke and childhood cancer.

The researchers concluded that childhood exposure to carcinogens increases sensitivity to those carcinogens later in life. For example, one study looked at individuals who had been exposed perinatally--that is, during the period from a few weeks before birth to a few weeks after birth--to the industrial chemical ...