Certain types of fruit and vegetables can increase the levels of harmful pesticides in your body, new research has found.
Pesticides have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive harm and neurotoxicity in children, with residue of these chemicals often detected on these produce.
The study, conducted by scientists at the Washington DC-based Environmental Working Group, found that participants who consumed more of certain produce, including strawberries, spinach and bell peppers, had significantly higher levels of pesticides in their urine.
“The findings reinforce that what we eat directly affects the level of pesticides in our bodies,” said Alexis Temkin, vice president for science at EWG and lead author of the study.
“Eating produce is essential to a healthy diet, but it can also increase exposure to pesticides.
“This study builds on previous work showing that certain fruits and vegetables are a major route of pesticide exposure,” said Temkin. “Young children and pregnant people are particularly susceptible to the harms from exposure.”
Researchers collected the US Department of Agriculture data on pesticides residues in produce from 2013-18, before combining it with dietary questionnaire responses and urine samples from 1,837 participants.
Using this data, EWG created a ‘dietary pesticide exposure score’ to estimate people’s exposure based on the fruit and vegetables they consumed, and the pesticide levels on that food item.
This was determined by how often and how much of each chemical was detected, as well as the concentration and toxicity of each pesticide.
The results showed a clear link between the levels of these pesticides that were detected in their urine, and what specific produce they consumed.
However, the relationship between produce consumption and pesticide levels was only evidence when potatoes were excluded from the test.
It is believed that due to the versatile nature of potatoes and the variety of ways they can be consumed, it is difficult to accurately estimate pesticide exposure in them, and they therefore skew the results.
The study also found that many more pesticides need to be identified and studied, given that people are now exposed to a wide range of agricultural chemicals.
Despite years of research linking low-level pesticide exposure to health risks, regulators fail to account for cumulative exposure from a mixture of pesticides.
The report encourages people to continue eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, but to switch from conventional produce to organic.
“This study was only possible thanks to robust federal data, highlighting why strong public health agencies must remain a top priority for policymakers,” said Varun Subramaniam, EWG science analyst.
“The pesticide residue tests and CDC biomonitoring data represent the kind of essential research that only the government can provide – at a scale that no private sector or academic effort could match,” he said.
