Dirty Dozen must avoid unless organic.
We should eat more fruits and vegetables than meat. But every time I eat them, I am warry about pesticide residues.
Will consuming organic produce keep you safe from pesticide residue?
♠12 Foods with the highest pesticides residue
Here are 12 produce that have too much pesticide residue, making organic the better option.
The dirty dozen is a list made by the EWG stating which produce contains the most pesticide residue.
The top 12 produce mostly not changed for 6 years since 2017
The reason is that the damage of pests is worst without pesticides.
EWG tested produce after washing like how consumers would wash their produce before eating.
The 1st food with the highest pesticides residue is Strawberries.
Strawberries have been the first place on the Dirty Zone List every year.
Testing found 90% of strawberries had at least one pesticide, while 30% of strawberry samples contained 10 or more pesticide residues.
The 2nd food with the highest pesticides residue is Spinach.
Spinach also ranks second in the Dirty Dozen every year.
3/4 of samples tested were contaminated with a Neurotoxic bug killer banned from use on food crops in Europe.
The 3rd food with the highest pesticides residue is Kale.
Kale tested positive for DCPA, which was banned for use in produces in Europe because it is considered a carcinogen.
The 4th food with the highest pesticides residue is Nectarines.
More than 90% of samples of nectarines tested positive for two or more pesticide residues.
The 5th food with the highest pesticides residue is Apples.
Apples are typically treated with diphenylamine which is a chemical treatment used to prevent brown or black patches.
Diphenylamine is used widely for storing or preservation of apples. It can be absorbed through the respiratory tract and the skin, and it can cause high blood pressure and eczema.
In animal studies, damages to the liver and kidneys have been reported.
The 6th food with the highest pesticides residue is Grapes.
Grapes is a fruit that remains high on the Dirty Dozen List.
When eating grapes, we do not peel the skins by hand. So, we could be consuming the pesticide residues as it is.
Because pesticides easily penetrate the grape skins, we must choose organic grapes.
The 7th food with the highest pesticides residue is Cherries.
You need to take extra time to wash them because cherries are eaten with the skin.
The 8th food with the highest pesticides residue is Peach.
Ranking 8th out of more than 40,000 agricultural products tested means that there are quite a lot of pesticide residue.
Even if we eat peaches after washing and peeling off the skin, we must wash hands before and after washing peaches in case of loftover pesticides on the hands.
The 9th food with the highest pesticides residue is
Pears need lots of pesticides because it is a pest-prone crop.
By the way, it is kind of a good thing that pear’s hard skin makes it hard for pesticides to penetrate the fruit.
The 10th food with the highest pesticides residue is Bell and Hot Peppers.
Bell peppers and hot peppers had the most pesticides detected. According to the EWG, bell and hot peppers have 115 pesticides in total and 21 more pesticides than the crops with the second highest amount kale, collard and mustard greens.
The 11th food with the highest pesticides residue is Celery.
I thought there would be little damage from pests because of the strong scent of celery, but I was wrong.
The 12th food with the highest pesticides residue is Tomatoes.
We should eat tomatoes after blanching them in boining water and peeling it.
Some say that pesticide levels that are govermment-approved are not harmful to humans.
However, experts say it is especially critical for babies and children to avoid pesticides because pesticides can damage the developing brain.
So how can we get rid of pesticide residue?
◈How to minimize pesticide resicue mamage.
