{"id":28910,"date":"2021-03-15T00:01:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T04:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=28910"},"modified":"2021-03-14T20:04:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T00:04:45","slug":"dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act!"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, March 15, 2021) <\/b>A staff report<\/a> produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives has documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods. The researchers examined organic as well as nonorganic brands, finding contamination of both. They found that heavy metals were present in both crop-based ingredients and additives. However, many unknowns remain regarding the precise origin of the metals.<\/p>\r\n

Tell FDA and USDA to get heavy metals out of baby food!<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n

Two U.S. Senators (Amy Klobuchar, D-MN and Tammy Duckworth, D-IL) and two U.S. Representatives (Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL and Tony Cardenas, D-CA) have drafted legislation<\/a> to strengthen regulations for infant food safety, but meanwhile want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use existing authority to take immediate action. The National Organic Program should also take action to ensure that parents can depend on organic baby food to be the best possible.<\/p>\r\n

Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report,<\/p>\r\n

Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior.<\/p>\r\n

Babies\u2019 developing brains are \u201cexceptionally sensitive to injury caused by toxic chemicals, and several developmental processes have been shown to be highly vulnerable to chemical toxicity.\u201d The fact that babies are small, have other developing organ systems, and absorb more of the heavy metals than adults, exacerbates their risk from exposure to heavy metals.<\/p>\r\n

Exposure to heavy metals at this developmental stage can lead to \u201cuntreatable and frequently permanent\u201d brain damage, which may result in \u201creduced intelligence, as expressed in terms of lost IQ points, or disruption in behavior.\u201d For example, a recent study estimates that exposure to environmental chemicals, including lead, are associated with 40,131,518 total IQ points loss in 25.5 million children (or roughly 1.57 lost IQ points per child)\u2014more than thetotal IQ losses associated with preterm birth (34,031,025), brain tumors (37,288), and traumatic brain injury (5,827,300) combined. For every one IQ point lost, it is estimated that a child\u2019s lifetime earning capacity will be decreased by $18,000.<\/p>\r\n

Because heavy metal contamination occurs in organic as well as nonorganic baby foods and in food ingredients as well as additives such as vitamin mixtures, it is important to discover the sources from which heavy metals enter the food. Some sources are known\u2014it is known that some vitamin mixes are contaminated. It is known that rice\u2014especially brown rice\u2014contains arsenic as a result of historical use of arsenic pesticides and the fact that rice concentrates arsenic. Other sources are more speculative, but there are three main possible sources\u2014pesticide residues in agricultural products, food contact with processing machinery and containers, and food additives. Growing food organically eliminates additions to the heavy metal burden of soils but does not eliminate existing residues in the soil and environment generally. Organic processing standards must be strengthened to address problems associated with food contact contaminants and contaminated additives. While background levels and action levels set by \u00a0FDA standards are one measure, under the Organic Foods Production Act, the National Organic Standards Board must set its own standards for contaminants of added substances in organic food production and processing, taking into account background levels in the environment.<\/p>\r\n

After decades of polluting practices in agricultural production under risk assessment standards that allowed contamination at \u201cacceptable levels,\u201d we have a legacy problem with background contamination of farmland. As a result, manufacturers of processed food may not be able to source ingredients without these unacceptable contaminants. Therefore, we need to first define the scope of the problem and then consider remediation measures that may be needed on the agricultural land used to grow crops that are ingredients in baby food and the food supply generally.<\/p>\r\n

With the problem fully defined, we can launch a national clean-up program\u2014from farmers to processors and packagers\u2014to eliminate the contamination from the food supply. As a part of this national program, FDA must set strict regulations on heavy metal concentrations in finished products. As a goal, Consumer Reports (CR) has suggested that FDA:<\/p>\r\n

Establish aggressive targets: <\/strong>Set a goal of having no measurable amounts of cadmium, inorganic arsenic, or lead in baby and children\u2019s food.<\/p>\r\n

Create and enforce benchmarks: <\/strong>To reach its goals in baby and children\u2019s food, FDA should set incremental targets for industry to meet along the way.<\/p>\r\n

Finalize existing proposed guidelines: <\/strong>FDA should limit inorganic arsenic in apple juice to 10 ppb and revise existing guidance for lead in fruit juice to reduce the limit from 50 to 5 ppb.<\/p>\r\n

Tell FDA and USDA to get heavy metals out of baby food!<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n

Letter to FDA Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

A staff report produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives has documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods. The researchers examined organic as well as nonorganic brands, finding contamination of both. They found that heavy metals were present in both crop-based ingredients and additives. However, many unknowns remain regarding the precise origin of the metals.<\/p>\r\n

Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report,<\/p>\r\n

Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior.<\/p>\r\n

Babies\u2019 developing brains are \u201cexceptionally sensitive to injury caused by toxic chemicals, and several developmental processes have been shown to be highly vulnerable to chemical toxicity.\u201d The fact that babies are small, have other developing organ systems, and absorb more of the heavy metals than adults, exacerbates their risk from exposure to heavy metals.<\/p>\r\n

Exposure to heavy metals at this developmental stage can lead to \u201cuntreatable and frequently permanent\u201d brain damage, which may result in \u201creduced intelligence, as expressed in terms of lost IQ points, or disruption in behavior.\u201d For example, a recent study estimates that exposure to environmental chemicals, including lead, are associated with 40,131,518 total IQ points loss in 25.5 million children (or roughly 1.57 lost IQ points per child)\u2014more than the total IQ losses associated with preterm birth (34,031,025), brain tumors (37,288), and traumatic brain injury (5,827,300) combined. For every one IQ point lost, it is estimated that a child\u2019s lifetime earning capacity will be decreased by $18,000.<\/p>\r\n

Because heavy metal contamination occurs in organic as well as nonorganic baby foods and in food ingredients as well as additives such as vitamin mixtures, it is important to discover the sources from which heavy metals enter the food. Some sources are known\u2014it is known that some vitamin mixes are contaminated. It is known that rice\u2014especially brown rice\u2014contains arsenic as a result of historical use of arsenic pesticides and the fact that rice concentrates arsenic. Other sources are more speculative, but there are three main possible sources\u2014pesticide residues in agricultural products, food contact with processing machinery and containers, and food additives. Growing food organically eliminates additions to the heavy metal burden of soils but does not eliminate existing residues. Organic processing standards have not yet caught up with the problems of food contact contaminants and contaminated additives and rely to some extent on FDA standards.<\/p>\r\n

It is important to motivate those involved in baby food manufacture\u2014from farmers to processors and packagers\u2014to eliminate known sources of contamination. This can be accomplished with strict FDA regulations on heavy metal concentrations in finished products. I urge you to take these steps to protect children from hazardous heavy metals:<\/p>\r\n

Establish aggressive targets: <\/strong>Set a goal of having no measurable amounts of cadmium, inorganic arsenic, or lead in baby and children\u2019s food.<\/p>\r\n

Create and enforce benchmarks: <\/strong>To reach its goals in baby and children\u2019s food, FDA should insist that manufacturers follow recognized best practices and set incremental targets for industry to meet along the way.<\/p>\r\n

Finalize existing proposed guidelines: <\/strong>FDA should limit inorganic arsenic in apple juice to 10 ppb and revise existing guidance for lead in fruit juice to reduce the limit from 50 to 5 ppb.<\/p>\r\n

Thank you for your consideration.<\/p>\r\n

Letter to National Organic Program (NOP) Deputy Administrator and USDA Secretary:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I am writing because I am concerned about the report produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives that documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods, including organic products. Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report,<\/p>\r\n

Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior.<\/p>\r\n

Babies\u2019 developing brains are \u201cexceptionally sensitive to injury caused by toxic chemicals, and several developmental processes have been shown to be highly vulnerable to chemical toxicity.\u201d The fact that babies are small, have other developing organ systems, and absorb more of the heavy metals than adults, exacerbates their risk from exposure to heavy metals.<\/p>\r\n

Exposure to heavy metals at this developmental stage can lead to \u201cuntreatable and frequently permanent\u201d brain damage, which may result in \u201creduced intelligence, as expressed in terms of lost IQ points, or disruption in behavior.\u201d For example, a recent study estimates that exposure to environmental chemicals, including lead, are associated with 40,131,518 total IQ points loss in 25.5 million children (or roughly 1.57 lost IQ points per child)\u2014more than the total IQ losses associated with preterm birth (34,031,025), brain tumors (37,288), and traumatic brain injury (5,827,300) combined. For every one IQ point lost, it is estimated that a child\u2019s lifetime earning capacity will be decreased by $18,000.<\/p>\r\n

The heavy metal contamination occurs regardless of organic production and processing methods. Organic standards are based on practices rather than purity, but consumers do expect that organic foods will be free of hazardous contaminants. Therefore, regardless of actions that may be taken by Congress or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) affecting foods in general or baby foods in general, the National Organic Program (NOP) should, to the extent possible, ensure that organic food, especially infant food, is free from heavy metal contamination.<\/p>\r\n

To this end, NOP must work with the National Organic Standards Board to eliminate, as much as possible heavy metal contamination arising from:<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Organic crop and livestock production practices and the land;<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. National List ingredients;<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Processing and handling processes; and<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Packaging materials.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Thank you for your consideration.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2021) A staff report produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives has documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods. The researchers examined organic as well as nonorganic brands, finding contamination of both. They found that heavy metals were present in both crop-based ingredients and additives. However, many unknowns remain regarding the precise origin of the metals. Tell FDA and USDA to get heavy metals out of baby food! Two U.S. Senators (Amy Klobuchar, D-MN and Tammy Duckworth, D-IL) and two U.S. Representatives (Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL and Tony Cardenas, D-CA) have drafted legislation to strengthen regulations for infant food safety, but meanwhile want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use existing authority to take immediate action. The National Organic Program should also take action to ensure that parents can depend on organic baby food to be the best possible. Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report, Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249,2,354,276,1,368],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-alternativesorganics","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-take-action","category-uncategorized","category-us-department-of-agriculture-usda"],"yoast_head":"\nDangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2021) A staff report produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives has documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods. The researchers examined organic as well as nonorganic brands, finding contamination of both. They found that heavy metals were present in both crop-based ingredients and additives. However, many unknowns remain regarding the precise origin of the metals. Tell FDA and USDA to get heavy metals out of baby food! Two U.S. Senators (Amy Klobuchar, D-MN and Tammy Duckworth, D-IL) and two U.S. Representatives (Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL and Tony Cardenas, D-CA) have drafted legislation to strengthen regulations for infant food safety, but meanwhile want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use existing authority to take immediate action. The National Organic Program should also take action to ensure that parents can depend on organic baby food to be the best possible. Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report, Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act!\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\"},\"wordCount\":1764,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg\",\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"Agriculture\",\"1\":\"Alternatives\/Organics\",\"2\":\"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\",\"3\":\"Take Action\",\"5\":\"US Department of Agriculture (USDA)\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\",\"name\":\"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":320},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"description\":\"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2501,\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","og_description":"(Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2021) A staff report produced for the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives has documented substantial levels of the heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in infant foods. The researchers examined organic as well as nonorganic brands, finding contamination of both. They found that heavy metals were present in both crop-based ingredients and additives. However, many unknowns remain regarding the precise origin of the metals. Tell FDA and USDA to get heavy metals out of baby food! Two U.S. Senators (Amy Klobuchar, D-MN and Tammy Duckworth, D-IL) and two U.S. Representatives (Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL and Tony Cardenas, D-CA) have drafted legislation to strengthen regulations for infant food safety, but meanwhile want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use existing authority to take immediate action. The National Organic Program should also take action to ensure that parents can depend on organic baby food to be the best possible. Heavy metals can have serious health impacts, especially on young children. As stated in the report, Children\u2019s exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act!","datePublished":"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/"},"wordCount":1764,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg","articleSection":{"0":"Agriculture","1":"Alternatives\/Organics","2":"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)","3":"Take Action","5":"US Department of Agriculture (USDA)"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/","name":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act! - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-15T04:01:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/BabyFood.2.HeavyMetals.jpg","width":640,"height":320},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/03\/dangerous-levels-of-heavy-metals-in-baby-food-usda-and-fda-must-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals in Baby Food; USDA and FDA Must Act!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization","name":"Beyond Pesticides","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2501,"caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4","name":"Beyond Pesticides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"description":"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28910"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28922,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28910\/revisions\/28922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}