According to Vogt et al. 2012, food contaminants are of concern for all ages, but specially for children. The authors stress that children are in developing phase. The intake of food and fluids relative to the bodyweight is greater as that of adults. [1]
Organic foods reduce organophosphorous pesticides exposure
Lu et al 2006 reported that organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus pesticides through their diet. [1]
According to Sagiv et al 2012 eating fish with even low levels of mercury while pregnant can increase the risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring at the age of 8 years. Medium peripartum maternal hair mercury level was 0.45 μg/g. The ADHD risk is associated with maternal mercury levels of at least 1 μg/g. [1]
Hen farms in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and other parts of Germany had been closed in April 2012 by German food authorities because of elevated PCBs and Dioxin contamination. Non-dioxin-like PCBs contamination in eggs of a organic farm at the district of Oldenburg/Germany were recently found in May. Some ot these eggs were sold at different places and were already consumed. [1]
The dioxin scandal in European eggs in early 2011 is being followed by new dioxin-like PCB tainted eggs found in Germany. The source of the 2011 poison was tracked back to fatty acids of the production of bioDiesel which were illegally added to the feed of hens. However, no source is known which might have caused the 2012 PCBs which poisoned organic eggs of North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany and conventional free range farms in Lower Saxony/Germany. PCBs levels in eggs were found to be six times the permitted limit.
The EU- Directive 1999/74 defines and specifies the standards for the protection of laying hens, defining the barn egg, the free range egg and the organic egg. [1]
Shortly before the eastern feast, in early April 2012, news were spread that organic eggs are tainted by dioxin-like PCB. The chicken farm in North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany with 25.000 laying hens was closed by veterinary authorities. The dioxin-like Polychlorinated Biphenylen (PCB) content was found to be three to six times of the permitted levels. [1]
