On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 18:10:04 GMT, "James Curts"
wrote:

Many of these
chemicals, just as in the instances of dirt grown vegetables, were within
the plant structure and could not be washed off. The only solutions are to
remove the items from the store shelves, which one major local grocery chain
did, or to advertise the product so strongly and favorably that customers
consumed the evidence.

The threat of food poisoning from aldicarb residues in American
hydroponically grown cucumbers comes to mind as one example that
residues of toxic chemicals within the plant structure cannot be
washed off. Indeed such aldicarb-soaked hydroponically grown
cucumbers would had been better removed from the shelves -- before
unknowing customers ate them and got sick. However, hydroponically
grown produce should from what I've heard generally have -lower-
residues than conventionally dirt-grown, and the residues would not
very often exceed maximum recommended levels, and not frequently lead
to clinical poisoning.