Seven Wisconsin Gingseng Growers Were Accused of Illegally Using The Pesticide Lindane and The Fungicide PCNB
Wisconsin ginseng growers are steamed over headlines slamming their use of illegal pesticides. The headlines came in September, when state agriculture officials revealed that
residue tests conducted in 1995 found seven rogue Wisconsin growers in violation of the state's ban on the fungicide PCNB (pentachloronitrobenzene) and the pesticide lindane.
A difficult root to cultivate, ginseng is highly susceptible to several diseases. It requires very shady conditions and must mature for a minimum of five to seven years underground before being harvested, which makes it vulnerable to fungus.
But U.S. regulations tolerate no chemical residues of any kind in cultivated ginseng root, even from pesticides legally used on the crop.
The tests were carried out as part of a self-policing effort by the Wisconsin ginseng industry. To date, one of the growers has been fined $35,000; the other six cases are
pending. Nonetheless, growers for the nation's largest producer of packaged ginseng maintain the problem is not widespread, and they are urging American consumers not to abandon domestic-labeled crops before they have all the facts.
What didn't get reported is that PCNB can be (and is) legally used on other food crops in the United States, including broccoli, cabbage and peanuts, according to Bob Romang,
president of the Wausau-based Ginseng Board of Wisconsin. PCNB also is legal--and heavily used--in every other country that grows ginseng , he says. This includes Canada, Korea and
China. Given the Orient's lack of pesticide regulations, it's very likely that pesticide residues are present in Korean and Chinese ginseng , herbs that are botanically unrelated to the American root.
Lindane--classified as a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other world health agencies--also is legal for use on several crops, including
corn and pecans. However, according to Ron Rambadt, the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin's executiive dirrector, no ginseng grower uses this chemical. Rather, he claims the lindane
residues that showed up in the tests resulted from growers planting ginseng crops in fields previously doused with lindane in order to protect corn crops. Very slow to decay,
lindane can remain in soil for up to 15 years after application, according to the Pesticide Action Network, an environmental group based in San Francisco.
Romang readily acknowledges that the Wisconsin ginseng growers violated the law. Still, he maintains, given PCNB's widespread use on other U.S. crops, the issue is not one of health risk, but rather failure to follow government procedure. The PCNB ban, he says, results from ginseng growers not having the resources,to provide sufficient research data to the EPA that
would permit PCNB for ginseng use. While Rick Kegwin, chief of the registration support branch of the EPA, acknowledges that chemical registration hurdle's can be steep for what he calls "low-acreage" crops, like ginseng , he adds that the ginseng growers just didn't follow protocol. " Ginseng growers could apply for any chemical registration, including PCNB, through the EPA's minor-use program." This program is reserved for crops that do not generate a lot of income, like ginseng .
Despite this option, Rambadt reports that the ginseng growers are "very actively pursuing" alternative and non-synthetic pest and disease controls that would allow them to avoid using
pesticides altogether. The organization is hoping that a product called Quadrus will prove to be a safer substitute for PCNB. A biological alternative to synthetic, chemical-based
pesticides, Quadrus will soon be registered for ginseng .
"Wisconsin ginseng growers are committed to lessening their dependence on synthetic pesticides," says Randy Brunn, a crop specialist with Marathon Feed, in Marathon City, Wis., who is currently experimenting with growing organic ginseng . "By the time the news of the violations hhit the newspapers, we had already cleaned up, and we're still making progress."
- SOURCE : Vegetarian Times1998.01.01
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