Home Gardening

Pesticides labeled for a reason
The Coast Gardener Newspaper and Web Column - August 3, 2002

Local offices of the Mississippi State University Extension Service receive numerous questions this time of the year regarding pesticide use and food safety. The good thing is that folks are calling, e-mailing, or stopping by and asking before they assume the situation is okay.

For example, a gardener sprays his pepper plants a couple of times with an insecticide or fungicide not approved for use on peppers. The gardener reads the label after the fact and becomes concerned when he or she doesn't see that crop listed. The gardener then contacts the Extension Service asking the question, "Can I still wash the peppers and remove enough of the pesticide so it's safe to eat?"

Unfortunately, the answer to the question is "no." The crop could just as easily have been squash, tomatoes, watermelons, apples, lemons, collards, or a host of other fruits and vegetables commonly grown in gardens throughout South Mississippi.

In most cases, home gardeners and orchardists use the appropriate fungicide or insecticide and there is no question about legality of the application and resultant pesticide residue. However, what if a fungicide or insecticide is applied to a fruit or vegetable crop not listed on the pesticide label?

When a local Extension Service office receives questions about the advisability of consuming fruits or vegetables containing a residue of a pesticide not cleared for use on the food crop in question, our response of "don't eat it" is based on the following facts:

• The food crop would contain an illegal pesticide residue; therefore, the fruit or vegetable in question should not be consumed. Simply put, you are breaking the law if you spray an illegal pesticide on crops not approved for such use.
• Washing produce, or waiting a period of time until the produce is "safe" will not correct the situation.
• Common sense suggests that harmful health effects probably wouldn't result from eating the tomato fruit described earlier, since the fungicide is okay to use on other food crops. So, what's the big deal? According to state and federal pesticide laws and regulations, it boils down to the fact that "food crops containing illegal pesticide residues should not be consumed." Therefore, the Mississippi State University Extension Service cannot tell you that it's okay to consume fruits or vegetables that could contain such residues.

As you prepare for the fall gardening season, and future vegetable and fruit crops, the best advice we can give you is "read the pesticide label and strictly adhere to the use directions it contains." One of the key pieces of information to determine is to make sure the pesticide product is cleared for use on your specific crop.

These archived gardening columns were written by Chance McDavid, former Harrison County Extension Agent.