Aren’t pesticides poisons?
As poisons, pesticides are inherently dangerous. However, farmers manage and reduce the risk by both using low levels and applying some time before the crop is harvested so that the pesticide degrades into harmless compounds or is washed off by the rain or other means.
Thus they can be targeted and used at application levels that kill insects rather than harm humans who subsequently use the products.
Chronic poisonings will perhaps result in more serious healthy problems in a long run than acute poisonings related to pesticide residues on food, but it is not easy to be measured in the short term compared with the acute poisonings.
Too many people think that pesticide use aims to protect crops and is very reasonable, while know little about healthy impacts (specially chronic) of pesticide residues on food.
Pesticide levels tend to decline over time as the residues break down and crops are washed and processed before reaching the marketplace.
So while we consume small amounts of pesticides regularly, levels are usually well below legal limits by the time food reaches the grocery store.