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Using cold running water to wash fruit and vegetables may not be enough to remove pesticides, a new paper published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters has found. The report states that “the risk of pesticide ingestion from fruits cannot be avoided by simple washing other than peeling.”
Authors Dongdong Ye, Ke Zheng, Shaobo Han and colleagues developed a high-tech imaging method to detect low levels of common pesticides. Their findings suggest that removing agricultural chemicals may take more than a rinse and that pesticide contamination goes further than skin-deep.
Conventional “fruit-cleaning operations cannot wholly remove pesticides,” the report states, after finding that pesticides had penetrated apple peel into the pulp. In addition to apples, the researchers used their system to detect pesticides on cucumbers, shrimp, chili powder and rice.
“This study, situated within the expansive realm of food safety, endeavours to furnish health guidance to consumers,” Ye, a professor with China’s School of Materials and Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University, told The Guardian. “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.”
Peeling may remove pesticide residues, but skins contain fibre and other nutrients. According to Healthline, a raw, unpeeled apple contains up to 332 per cent more vitamin K, 142 per cent more vitamin A, 115 per cent more vitamin C, 20 per cent more calcium and 19 per cent more potassium than a peeled one. (If you decide to peel your produce, food safety experts recommend you rinse it first.)
The Nano Letters paper follows a May Consumer Reports review of pesticides on nearly 30,000 samples of 59 fruits and vegetables. In analyzing seven years of data from the United States Department of Agriculture, Consumer Reports found that “pesticides posed significant risks” in 20 per cent of the foods, including bell peppers, blueberries, green beans, potatoes and strawberries.
On the plus side, Consumer Reports found that pesticides presented “little to worry about” in nearly two-thirds of the foods it analyzed, “including nearly all of the organic ones.”
Consumer Reports senior scientist Michael Hansen told The Guardian that the imaging method Ye, Zheng, Han and colleagues designed could help scientists understand how foods absorb pesticides and develop solutions. “This is more science showing that, yes, there are concerns. Don’t just think that washing is going to help you.”
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