One apple a day…pesticides could be building up in your body.
a New Research Many consumers wash fruit as a precaution, but the study suggests that this is not enough to remove toxic chemicals and pesticide residues.
The study, published Wednesday in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters, adds new information to the debate about the health risks of pesticides and what, if any, thresholds exist for consuming contaminated produce.
The goal of the study was to share a technique that researchers hope will improve detection of pesticides in food, but it also proved that washing alone is not enough when it comes to removing the chemicals.
According to the study, “cleaning operations cannot completely remove pesticides.”
When the researchers used this method to study pesticide contamination in apples, they found that the pesticides penetrated deep into the skin, penetrating the skin and into the flesh layer.
However, removing the apple skin and the top layer of flesh significantly reduced the contamination.
Ye Dongdong, a professor at the School of Materials Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University in China and an author of the study, hopes people won’t panic and will reach for their peelers.
“Rather than promote undue fear, the study asserts that peeling effectively removes nearly all pesticide residues, as opposed to the oft-recommended washing method.”
The study clearly found that “the risk of ingesting pesticides from fruit cannot be avoided by simple washing other than peeling.”
However, while peeling may help prevent exposure to chemicals, it also reduces the nutritional value.
As Healthline Note: Raw apples with the skin on contain up to 332% more vitamin K, up to 142% more vitamin A, up to 115% more vitamin C, up to 20% more calcium, and up to 19% more potassium than peeled apples.
In March, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit that advocates for a cleaner food supply, released its infamous “Dirty Dozen” list of produce with the most pesticides.
The group found that 75 percent of the conventional fresh fruits and vegetables it sampled contained potentially harmful chemical residues, with apples ranking eighth on the list of produce most commonly treated with pesticides.
In May, Consumer Reports Found Regarding pesticide levels Possesses “significant risk”To the consumer After 20 percent of the fruits and vegetables tested contained organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, nonprofit groups called on the Environmental Protection Agency to ban these pesticides and lower legal standards. Of pollution.
In a contradictory report, the USDA claimed that 99 percent of the produce it tested contained pesticide residues within legal contamination limits and was “safe and poses no risk to consumer health.”
It also claims that more than a quarter of the produce it tested was “free of any detectable residues.”
The EWG notes that the health benefits of a diet high in fresh ingredients “outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure.”
However, people who want to limit their exposure to pesticides should choose to remove pesticides and eat organic foods, where only natural pesticides are used, whenever possible.
