Initial tests by a Washington apple grower have identified an organic chemical that may serve as a substitute for Alar, which was banned as a probable carcinogen last year after a national scare. But a scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday it was too early to tell if the grower's initial results will hold up, and that the chemical would require at least two more years of study. Eric Curry of the USDA in Wenatchee said such testing generally requires three orchards in three locations around the state for three years. Spray-N-Grow, a Houston-based company, said initial results on an orchard owned by a Yakima-area grower found trees treated with the chemical produced apples with a significant increase in uniformity of color, sweetness, firmness and harvest time over untreated apples. Bill Muskopf, president of Spray-N-Grow, said the chemical ``provides the same benefits (as Alar) while remaining completely organic and totally non-toxic.'' Alar was a synthetic chemical growers used for two decades before a private consumer group issued a report last year saying consumption of apples treated with the chemical increased cancer risk in children. The Environmental Protection Agency banned the chemical later in the year. Unlike Alar, Spray-N-Grow is an organic chemical, a micronutrient that has been proven non-toxic in private tests, company officials said. It has been used by commercial vegetable growers and home gardeners for several years, the company said. The Alar scare pushed prices for organic apples far above those for chemically treated apples. Organically grown red apples were selling for $1.29 at a Seattle market Thursday, compared to 39 cents per pound for other red apples. Alar's most significant benefit was retaining the internal firmness of apples during months of cold storage. That will be tested with the new chemical this year, Spray-N-Grow said.
