Many fruits and vegetables are known to contain pesticides, chemical substances that used to kill or control unwanted pests, especially insects and rodents. There are at least 10 types of fruits and vegetables are often found to be harmful to the body due to exposure to the pesticides.
The following are considered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as most contaminated fruits and vegetables, as reported from iVillage.
1. Strawberries
Strawberries are fruits that grow close to the ground, where insects live. Therefore, farmers often use pesticides to kill the insect. To prolong shelf life, farmers also use fungicides, even after harvested. On a single sample of strawberries, some 13 different types of pesticides were detected.
2. Celery
96% of the celery samples tested positive for pesticides and nearly 90% contained a number of different types of pesticide. This because celery takes many months to get mature thus it will be exposed to pesticides for a longer period than other vegetables.
3. Peaches
Peaches have very thin skins which make it more receptive to absorb pesticides. 85.6% of the tested peaches contained traces of at least two different types of pesticide.
4. Apples
Along with peaches, apples are one of the most highly pesticide treated fruits, with not less than 56 different chemical substances being employed. 98% of them contained traces of pesticides and 92% contained at least 2 different types of pesticide.
5. Blueberries
Blueberries are very susceptible to pesticides due to their porous and fragile skin. Pesticides will easily enter into the flesh of the fruit.
Do not freeze blueberries as this will retain pesticides. Although some pesticides may fade over time, it will not happen in the freezer.
6. Sweet paprika
Sweet paprika is the mature form of green pepper varieties. Sweet paprika takes more time to grow and thus it has more exposure time to the pesticides than green peppers.
7. Spinach
As spinach also grown on the ground, they are highly exposed to insects and are thus overly protected with pesticides.
8. Grapes
On a sample of grapes imported from the United States, 14 different pesticides were detected. This possibly because grapes have very thin skin which allows the pesticide enters into the flesh.
9. Nectarines
90.8% of nectarines tested contained traces of at least two different types of pesticide. These traces can cause problems as they become more powerful when combined with each other.
10. Potatoes
Like all vegetables that grow directly in the ground, the potatoes are more exposed to pesticides than other vegetables on the ground. Since their skin is very thin, so they are easy to absorb a number of pesticides and fungicides. According to the EWG study, 91.4% of potatoes contain traces of pesticides.
To avoid the harmful effects of pesticides, buy organic fruits and vegetables or those sold in traditional markets. The fruits and veggies that sold in traditional markets usually come from small farmers who are unable to buy expensive pesticides.