(B)After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, Nemiroff hadswitched to a mostly organic diet. She also drank several cups ofgreen tea every day. However, in one study of the relationshipbetween DDT and breast cancer, she found her blood contained tracesof DDT. When she later investigated what part of her diet might becontaminated with the pesticide, the answer jolted her.A laboratory analysis found DDT in her green tea.

DDT is the pesticide thatwas banned by the United States in 1972, 10 years after publicationof Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring. Many now believe thatexposure to DDT is a cause of cancer. So, should people stopdrinking green tea because of the finding? In fact, green tearetains a class of chemicals called catechins, which may play a rolein cancer prevention and be part of the explanation for lower breastcancer rates in Japan. Therefore, Davis, who has written extensivelyon breast cancer and expects to publish Nemiroff's case in ascientific journal, did not advise her to stop drinking green tea.Davis would not recommend other women give up the beverage either.

Nevertheless,consumers can try to avoid drinking pesticides in their tea byswitching to brands certified as organic, although this is not anabsolute guarantee of purity. Eating organically grown fruits andvegetables, which are more expensive than non-organic, can also helpminimize pesticide exposure. Losing weight also releases pesticideresidues stored in fat, eliminating them from the body.