About gall stones

Fruit ?
By Noel Peterson, ND
Grapefruit: Leaded or Unleaded?
In the produce business, getting the first crops of the season to market is
so profitable that growers will do almost anything to beat the competition.
In Florida, for example, citrus growers pick grapefruit from September to
November–a full two months earlier than normal–by ripening them with lead
arsenate.
A combination of lead and arsenic, it is used on 30% of Florida’s
grapefruit crop. The resulting grapefruits contain average lead levels of
170 parts per billion (ppb), compared with the new drinking water standard
of 15ppb. What’s more, residues of inorganic arsenic average 130ppb in
fruit and 50ppb in the juice, both of which exceed drinking water standards.
Lead causes brain damage and mental and physical growth retardation in
children. Arsenic is a known carcinogen and causes severe nervous

disorders, and is a gastrointestinal, kidney, liver and blood toxin.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been conducting a ten year “Special
Review” of the use of lead arsenate. However, results of the study are not
expected to be released until the current supply of the toxin has been
“consumed”. Since the EPA has been asleep at the wheel, the National
Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP) has been urging
consumers to not buy grapefruit until the main crop comes in December. It
probably wouldn’t hurt to let the produce people at your local market know
how much you appreciate having been spared the difficulties of knowing your
fresh produce has been ripened with lead arsenate