From the second one:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/sci ... riculture/And, shockingly, the actual volume usage of pesticides on organic farms is not recorded by the government. Why the government isn't keeping watch on organic pesticide and fungicide use is a damn good question, especially considering that many organic pesticides that are also used by conventional farmers are used more intensively than synthetic ones due to their lower levels of effectiveness.
This is what I've been saying. Organic farming is scary. Many of the things they spray on their crops are much MORE dangerous than what conventional farming sprays (which has actually been tested for safety).
"Natural" poisons and carcinogens are still poisonous and carcinogenic, and because they're used in larger amounts since they're less effective on pests, they're actually worse.
Not only are organic pesticides not safe, they might actually be worse than the ones used by the conventional agriculture industry. Canadian scientists pitted 'reduced-risk' organic and synthetic pesticides against each other in controlling a problematic pest, the soybean aphid. They found that not only were the synthetic pesticides more effective means of control, the organic pesticides were more ecologically damaging, including causing higher mortality in other, non-target species like the aphid's predators.
