Washing fruit before eating does not remove pesticides – and the only way to avoid ingesting the chemicals is to peel the fruit, a new report has found.
Using a specific Raman imaging technology to see how pesticides affect apples, the scientists found “distribution of pesticides in the skin and pulp layers of the apple, confirming that pesticides penetrate through the skin layer into the pulp layer,” according to a report published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Nano letters.
“Therefore, the risk of ingesting pesticides from fruit cannot be avoided by simple washing other than peeling.”
The authors of the study said they did not want to scare anyone about the presence of pesticides in their food; Instead, they want to provide guidance on how to avoid them.
A picture of someone peeling an apple.
Getty
A new study shows that drivers are breathing in cancer-causing chemicals in their cars
“This study, located within the expanding field of food safety, seeks to provide health guidance to consumers,” said Dongdong Ye, a professor at the China School of Materials and Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University and an author of the study, according to The Guardian.
“Rather than fueling unnecessary alarm, the research claims that scrubbing can effectively eliminate nearly all pesticide residues, in contrast to the often-recommended washing practice.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
As the report states, “traditional fruit cleaning operations cannot completely remove pesticides,” but “given that the pulp layer lost during peeling was much larger than 30 μm, as confirmed by ultra-deep field microscopy, we believe that the peeling operation can to effectively avoid the dangers of pesticides in the epidermis of the fruit and near the epidermal pulp, thereby reducing the likelihood of pesticide ingestion.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/summer-fresh-ripe-berries-and-fruits-080924-48a5f9466bb74255b23d465bdeead573.jpg)
Stock image of summer fruit.
Getty
A weed-killing chemical has been found in the urine of most Americans, a new CDC study finds
According to the latest report from the US Department of Agriculture, “Before allowing pesticides to be used on food commodities, [the Environmental Protection Agency] it sets limits on how much pesticide can be used on food during growing, processing and storage, and how much can remain on food that reaches the consumer.”
The report found that “when pesticide residues are found on food, they are almost always at levels below tolerance, or the maximum amount of pesticide that can remain in or on food.”
The PEOPLE Puzzler has arrived! How fast can you solve it? Play now!
The EPA routinely reviews allowable tolerance levels for pesticides “to ensure that the tolerances accurately reflect actual or expected levels of residues in food.”
“This review, along with a review of other routes of exposure to that pesticide (from drinking water and residential pesticide use), will provide ‘reasonable assurance that no harm will result from aggregate exposure.’ ”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education