Quote:
Originally Posted by srvy
As long as you strip the bark that is where the tree retains pesticides as protection. Some orchards spray the piss out of their trees
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https://ask.extension.org/questions/269538
Is it safe to smoke food with orchard wood due to herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides used for the life of the tree? Do these contaminants (if this is an appropriate term) embed themselves in either the bark or wood of the tree from topical exposure. Furthermore, do the varied chemicals get sucked in by the root system. Last part to the question is, if the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides become part of the tree, do they create carcinogenic compounds when smoked?
Grand Traverse County Michigan
1 Response
The following is comments from Dr. John Wise, Dept of Entomology, who is in charge of the MSU IR4 pesticide testing program.
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"We can’t make any guarantees about safety of using apple trees from commercial orchards for smoking food.
But we do know that pesticides on the surface and inside living trees undergo environmental degradation. Pesticide fate on the plant surface is driven primarily by UV degradation, while pesticides inside plant tissue are broken down by various plant metabolic processes.
Residue studies that I have conducted over the years show that in some cases there can be persistence of residues in plant tissue for at least one year after application, but I have no direct knowledge of what happens after a tree dies? Presumably the apple wood is not used for smoking until after the woody tissue has been dead and dried for at least one or more years."
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I would add that the really persistent insecticides containing lead or arsenic have not been used in apple orchards since before the 1970's. However, semi-persistent insecticides are still being used. For example, Lorsban is still used as a trunk spray in some orchards, but would likely be discontinued for some years as a orchard is slated for removal. Even organic apple orchards are usually sprayed with copper for disease control.
There is no easy answer to your question. My opinion is that this is low on the list of risks that a person faces during the day. I am confident that you are much more likely to suffer from an auto accident on the way to the store to buy the wood chips than from ill effects from your smoker.
12210169993_91854b509e_m_thumb Bill Shane
Replied August 18, 2015, 10:08 AM EDT
And then I found this post on The BBQ Brethren forum.
Here is the answer I received from the ISU Extension.
The following response was provided by Donald Lewis, an Iowa State University extension entomologist.
Pesticides such as insecticides and fungicides applied to orchards have short residual times, measured in days and weeks, not months and years. Any residues that were on the trunk or branch wood would have long dissipated in the 2+ years the wood is curing as firewood.
Further, insecticides used in a commercial orchard are not systemic; they would not be located in the wood of the trunk, they would be located on the bark. Removal of the bark would eliminate all residues.
And finally, from what I've been told, removing the bark before barbequing or grilling is preferred as bark sometimes imparts an off flavor as it burns. Again, removal of the bark solves the issue.
Data on persistence of pesticides is not easy to find. Sometimes it is on the MSDS, other times you find it by searching online. Below is persistence information for two common Iowa apple orchard pesticides. You can find information for products of concern by requesting a pesticide application record from the commercial orchard and looking up the half life of the products used.
Imidan insecticide (one of the older and more persistent insecticides) has a half-life of 3 to 19 days. See
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles...osmet-ext.html Scroll down to "Environmental Fate."
Assail is a newer, popular broad spectrum insecticide. Though the concentrated insecticide is toxic, the label directions state that fruit can be harvested 7 days after spraying (another indication of how little time the products persist).