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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Report Card: Pesticides in Produce
  • Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 09:35:49 -0600


Report Card: Pesticides in Produce
http://www.foodnews.org/reportcard.php

Adjusting your eating habits can lower your intake of pesticides -- sometimes
dramatically so. Substitute organic for conventional produce that is
consistently contaminated with pesticides. When organic is not available, eat
fruits and vegetables with consistently low pesticide loads.

An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide
diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by 90 percent by
avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating
the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and
vegetables will expose a person to nearly 20 pesticides per day, on average.
Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to a fraction over 2
pesticides per day. Less dramatic comparisons will produce less dramatic
reductions, but without doubt using the Guide provides people with a way to
make choices that lower pesticide exposure in the diet.

Most Contaminated: The Dirty Dozen

Consistent with two previous EWG investigations, fruits topped the list of
the consistently most contaminated fruits and vegetables, with eight of the
12 most contaminated foods. Among the top six were four fruits, with peaches
leading the list, then strawberries, apples and nectarines. Pears, cherries,
red raspberries, and imported grapes were the other four fruits in the top
12. Among these eight fruits:

* Nectarines had the highest percentage of samples test positive for
pesticides (97.3 percent), followed by pears (94.4 percent) and peaches (93.7
percent).
* Nectarines also had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a
single sample — 85.3 percent had two or more pesticide residues — followed by
peaches (79.9 percent) and cherries (75.8 percent).
* Peaches and raspberries had the most pesticides detected on a single
sample with nine pesticides on a single sample, followed by strawberries and
apples, where eight pesticides were found on a single sample.
* Peaches had the most pesticides overall with some combination of up to
45 pesticides found on the samples tested, followed by raspberries with 39
pesticides and apples and strawberries, both with 36.

Spinach, celery, potatoes, and sweet bell peppers are the vegetables most
likely to expose consumers to pesticides. Among these four vegetables:

* Celery had the highest of percentage of samples test positive for
pesticides (94.5 percent), followed by spinach (83.4 percent) and potatoes
(79.3 percent).
* Celery also had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a
single vegetable (78 percent of samples), followed by spinach (51.8 percent)
and sweet bell peppers (48.5 percent).
* Spinach was the vegetable with the most pesticides detected on a single
sample (10 found on one sample), followed by celery and sweet bell peppers
(both with nine).
* Sweet bell peppers were the vegetable with the most pesticides overall
with 39, followed by spinach at 36 and celery and potatoes, both with 29.


Least Contaminated: Consistently Clean

The vegetables least likely to have pesticides on them are sweet corn,
avocado, cauliflower, asparagus, onions, peas and broccoli.

* Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of the pea and broccoli samples had
no detectable pesticides. Among the other vegetables on the
least-contaminated list, there were no detectable residues on 90 percent or
more of the samples.
* Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on any of these least
contaminated vegetables. Broccoli had the highest likelihood, with a 2.6
percent chance of more than one pesticide when ready to eat. Avocado and corn
both had the lowest chance with zero samples containing more than one
pesticide when eaten.
* The greatest number of pesticides detected on a single sample of any of
these low-pesticide vegetables was three as compared to 10 found on spinach,
the most contaminated crop with the most residues.
* Broccoli and onions both had the most pesticides found on a single
vegetable crop at up to 17 pesticides but far fewer than the most
contaminated vegetable, sweet bell peppers, on which 39 were found.

The five fruits least likely to have pesticide residues on them are
pineapples, mangoes, bananas, kiwi and papaya.

* Fewer than 10 percent of pineapple and mango samples had detectable
pesticides on them and fewer than one percent of samples had more than one
pesticide residue.
* Though 53 percent of bananas had detectable pesticides, multiple
residues are rare with only 4.7 percent of samples containing more than one
residue. Kiwi and papaya had residues on 23.6 percent and 21.7 percent of
samples, respectively, and just 10.4 percent and 5.6 percent of samples,
respectively, had multiple pesticide residues.





  • [Livingontheland] Report Card: Pesticides in Produce, Tradingpost, 04/05/2004

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