Peel those apples: New study confirms washing doesn’t remove pesticide residues
The paper, authored by Chinese researchers and
published Wednesday in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano
Letters, comes amid ongoing debate over the extent of pesticide
contamination of food, and the potential health risks associated with a steady
diet that includes residues of weed killing chemicals, insecticides and other
farm chemicals.
In May, Consumer Reports said it had determined that 20% of 59
different fruit and vegetable categories carried pesticide residues at levels
that posed “significant risks” to consumers, based on an analysis of
data gathered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The central point of the new paper is primarily to share the technical details of a process the authors developed allowing for enhanced trace detection of pesticides in foods. But the underlying finding about the ineffectiveness of washing fruit is important for consumers who may be relying on food safety practices that are insufficient, the authors said.
Traditional “fruit-cleaning operations cannot wholly remove
pesticides,” the paper states.
When using the technique to examine an apple, for instance,
the researchers said the “imaging results prove that the pesticides penetrate
the peel layer into the pulp layer.”
Using the technology they developed, the authors said they
found the pesticide contamination diminished when the apple peel was removed
along with some of the pulp layer.
“This study, situated within the expansive realm of food safety, endeavors to furnish health guidance to consumers,”
said Dongdong Ye, a professor with the School of Materials and Chemistry at
Anhui Agricultural University and an author of the paper. “Rather than
fostering undue apprehension, the research posits that peeling can effectively
eliminate nearly all pesticide residues, contrasted with the frequently
recommended practice of washing.”
Consumer Reports senior scientist Michael Hansen said the
new technique could be helpful to academics and government scientists in better
understanding pesticide persistence in foods and how to better protect
consumers.
“This is actually useful for understanding how these
pesticides move in,” Hansen said. “This is more science showing that, yes,
there are concerns. Don’t just think that washing is going to help you.”
The health risks posed by pesticides have been documented in
several studies, but most of those deal with occupational exposure, rather than
dietary. The USDA, as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), maintain
that pesticide residues in foods are not generally a concern for health if they
fall within legal limits.
Both agencies have been tracking levels of pesticide
residues in foods for decades, reporting their findings annually.
In the most recent USDA pesticide data program report, the agency said that
99% of foods tested had residues that fell within legal limits and thus did not
“pose risk to consumers’ health and are safe.”
Still, more than 72% of the over 10,000 food samples did
carry detectable pesticide residues, the USDA reported.
(A version of this story was co-published by The Guardian.)
