Pesticides in Chinese Bamboo Shoots

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Cans of bamboo shoots imported from China may have concerning levels of pesticide contamination.

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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

There are some plant foods that we may want to stay away from, such as cans of bamboo shoots imported from China. This was a study to evaluate the residues of organochlorine pesticides, like DDT, in Chinese bamboo shoots. Now, this was research carried out in China. As I read the article, I couldn’t help but get a distinct sense they were trying to downplay their findings. For example, they said “only nine pesticides were detected…”

This was their conclusion: “While all sampled bamboo shoots contained these pesticides, most…were safe for consumption.”

Uh, no thanks.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to Joi via flickr

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

There are some plant foods that we may want to stay away from, such as cans of bamboo shoots imported from China. This was a study to evaluate the residues of organochlorine pesticides, like DDT, in Chinese bamboo shoots. Now, this was research carried out in China. As I read the article, I couldn’t help but get a distinct sense they were trying to downplay their findings. For example, they said “only nine pesticides were detected…”

This was their conclusion: “While all sampled bamboo shoots contained these pesticides, most…were safe for consumption.”

Uh, no thanks.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to Joi via flickr

Doctor's Note

That was short and sweet! Okay, maybe not so sweet. Because organochlorine pesticides tend to build up in animal fat (see for example, Cannibalistic Feed Biomagnification; Avoiding Other Banned Pesticides, and Industrial Carcinogens in Animal Fat) we tend to think of meat, eggs, and dairy as being the most heavily contaminated. We especially think of farmed fish (see Farmed Fish vs. Wild-Caught) and fish oil (see DDT in Fish Oil Supplements), but studies like this suggest there may also be significant plant sources. Do environmental pollutants result in a weighty number of cancer cases? See President’s Cancer Panel Report on Environmental Risk. How contaminated is the general population? See the first video in this series: CDC Report on Environmental Chemical Exposure.

For further context, check out my associated blog post: Pollutants in Californian Breast Tissue.

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