[dhruvkar]

>> fly the drone with no physical effort and no direct exposure to pesticides—some of which have been associated with diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.

Slightly tangential, but what's the thinking here?

We don't want to get it on us while spraying it, but then we'll eat it and it'll be fine?

[ggm]

Rice grows inside a husk. And, white so-called "polished" rice has the outer coat removed. So, insecticide/pesticide residue on the surface isn't such a big deal, even for brown rice.

Ingesting and breathing in the concentrations of insecticide associated with spraying is orders of magnitude worse risk to the farm worker and people around, than incidental food contact risk post production/packaging.

Many chemicals are also broken down in sunlight and water, or are absorbed into the rootstock, not the fruiting body.

(not an agronomist or food scientist. I too wondered at the Merryl Streep ad 30 years ago where she's washing broccoli with soap..)

[tucnak]

> Merryl Streep ad 30 years ago where she's washing broccoli with soap..

???

[ggm]

https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/173...

In 1989, Meryl Streep became the celebrity spokesperson for a Natural Resources Defense Council campaign to publicize the risks of pesticides and chemicals applied to food, especially the danger of Alar-laced apples consumed by young children.

[nordsieck]

> We don't want to get it on us while spraying it, but then we'll eat it and it'll be fine?

I suspect that a big part of the issue is the amount of exposure.

Dental x-rays aren't dangerous to the patient, but they are dangerous to the dental technician, because they're (potentially) exposed to many x-rays every day.

Same deal here - if you consume say... 100 lbs of rice a year that's not that big of a deal. But if the worker is spraying entire fields - they're just in contact with a lot more pesticide. And that's beyond the fact that white rice has the husk removed, etc.

[retrac]

Some pesticides are short-lasting agents, which are acutely toxic, to the target pest, and also humans. But they dissipate or break down fairly quickly. Even just pure nitrogen or carbon dioxide gas can be used for pest control, and a minute of venting makes it safe after. Come to think, fully automated warehouses handling food, could be kept under an oxygen-free atmosphere. Probably impractical but it'd substantially reduce spoilage and it'd stop any rats or cockroaches pretty quick.

(Of course, the history of pesticides is full of pesticides that don't actually dissipate, or break down, as much as claimed.)

[Blahah]

Yes, that's the thinking.

To elaborate that thinking: when absorbed in the quantities experienced by a farm worker in this context, some pesticides can have irritant or toxic effects. They (or rather their application methods and cocktails) are designed not to permeate the food products of the plant, although some do with some foods and this is ongoing research. Farmers need to consistently produce healthy produce people can afford, and want to do as little harm as possible to people in the process.

[dsign]

I'm pretty sure you will eat some, yes.

However, irrigation and the rice's own metabolism will remove some pesticide. And rice grains have a peel which is later removed, often after a drying process at somewhat high temperatures, which will further degrade "safe" pesticides.

This is just the best compromise we can make between labor cost (both financial and human; I have worked in rice crops and it is no joke) and safety, practically speaking. If I had to dream a better solution, I would have our crops grow in completely artificial environments out of planet, while tended by robots. Then insecticides wouldn't be needed, and genetic manipulation would be less of an issue. But, as they say, choose your dreams.

[AngryData]

Without getting in too deep, a lot of pesticides we use degrade in sunlight and/or water. So as long as it isn't sprayed near the end of harvest, where it would then be stored in a dark dry place, most agricultural chemicals will have degraded.

[vishnugupta]

The laborers spraying the pesticides get an order of magnitude more exposure, repeatedly and in its raw, most harmful form.

While we do consume some amounts of them it’s minuscule, more so when the food is prepared after proper washing and boiling/fried etc.

[thaumasiotes]

The thinking is that you clean the food before eating it.