I think I ate a little bit of pesticide.

[starfish79]

I'm 7 wks along.

We got this yummy chicken vegetable soup from a local Mexican restaurant that we always get, and half-way through my bowl when I took a bite that had a very sharp, distinct, unmistakeable taste of pesticide.  Almost like I got a little nugget of something.  It was absolutely horrid.  I spit the mouthful in my mouth right out and didn't swallow that mouthful, and stopped eating the rest of the bowl. 

I second-guessed myself a few minutes later and sniffed the napkin that I spit the mouthful into and sure enough, I could smell a pesticide odor. 

Two questions: 1) I'm assuming that even if I ingested a concentrated little bit, the embryo/fetus will be ok? It's gotta take more than that, right?

2) Do you have a super sense of taste along with super smell?

I try to eat natural, whole, organic, vegetable based foods as often as possible (pregnant or not) so compared to the average person I think I do a pretty good job (though in this world there's not a lot you can do to avoid all the nasty chemicals out there).  My sense of smell is heightened and I went into a restaurant yesterday and could barely breathe, the smell of pesticide was so overwhelming.  I asked the girl at the counter if they exterminated and she said "the building next door did, 4 days ago."  Jeez. 

Anyone else super sensitive to these things?

[VillainV]

1. You'll be fine. It doesn't sound like you actually ingested anything, and if you did it was a teeny tiny amount. And you don't even know that it was pesticide. (I'm kind of wondering how you even know what pesticide tastes like?)

2. I never really thought of it as a super-sense of taste, but I guess I was more sensitive to things tasting "off" like starting to spoil. Also bad aversions.

Did you contact the restaurant about the soup? Did you find a "nugget" of something in that bite?

Edited to add:  I'm really sorry if my response sounded flippant.  I really didn't mean it to.  The important thing to remember is that anything you ingest will have to make it all the way through your digestive system, into your blood stream, and across your placenta in order to have any effect on the fetus.  Assuming you did ingest something hazardous, it would have been a REALLY REALLY small quantity, and I think it's more likely that it would have made you ill first.  Our bodies are pretty good at detecting hazardous substances, especially while pregnant, so if it really was something poisonous I think your body would have attempted to expel it.  I think you're most likely okay, and don't need to worry about this affecting your pregnancy.  If you're really worried, or if are feeling ill, then definitely contact your doctor just to be sure.    Honestly I'd be more worried about what the restaurant was serving that tasted so bad -- they definitely need to know if something is wrong with their soup.

[Odonata]

Is it possible to have been a whole piece of a spice? I know some spices when not dissolved can have very strong flavors that can taste almost chemical. And if your taste/smell sences are heightened You may think it is a pesticide.

There is a Thai place that often has some whole strong spices in thesoup that I have spit out assumung it was not food.

[starfish79]

I've always had a sharp sense of smell and taste (they're related) and this definitely tasted the way pesticide smells. Big time. Could have been unwashed produce, could have been something sprinkled in the restaurant to keep bugs away.

I didn't throw up and I feel ok this morning (other than light nausea which seems to be normal these days).

Thanks for your response-- it helped put me at ease.

[starfish79]

Odonata-- that's a good point. Thank you!

On the note of pesticides, I volunteered at a foodbank about a year ago and my role in the "assembly line" was unstacking the plastic crates that the food packages get loaded into. We unloaded hundreds of crates.

I smelled a bug spray type smell and it got stronger as we went through this particular stack of crates, and we learned that yes, the foodbank has to spray the plastic bins because with the various food products come ants and roaches...

It made me very sad that the poor people who needed the food were getting it straight from crates that were sprayed with insecticide.

[Odonata]

I helped at a food bank before where my job was to wipe the cans down with clorox because they were covered with rat feces.

And we ran into many rats. No matter what the food was gross but they try their best I guess.

So now that I'm thinking about it I have had strong chunks of spice that I swear tasted like Raid Hornet Spray.