Are Pesticides On Fruits And Vegetables Pose A Serious Health Risk?

Unless you buy organic produce, pesticides are a fact of life for most fruits and vegetables. It’s a confusing topic under much debate as professionals and layman throughout the country try to determine if pesticides on fruits and vegetables pose a serious health risk.

You don’t want to worry every time you pick up fresh fruit and vegetables but scientific studies are beginning to make associations between the increase in some types of cancers and environmental factors such as air, water, and soil quality. So how they heck are you suppose to know if the food you are buying is safe.

The standards for the allowable levels of pesticides on products is very outdated and government officials are working to revise these standards but the process is slow.

Current standards are designed for adults and to not take into consideration the lower body weights of children and the fact that they generally eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Studies have shown that low levels of pesticides can damage the nervous system, affect the hormone system, and impair fertility. But what defines a safe level by the new standards? Well we aren’t going to know for several years so you either take your chances or buy organic.

Many people are under the misconception that just washing the fruit will remove the pesticide. Although it will remove 25 to 50% of the residue it doesn’t help for the chemicals that have soaked into the produce.

Even with the uncertainty of the risks of pesticides what we know for sure is that fruits and vegetables have serious benefits for our health that should not be overlooked. You shouldn’t avoid fresh fruits and vegetables because you are worried about the pesticide.

Now that’s not to say you have to say you have to accept it either. The one choice you do have is to purchase organic fruits and vegetables. Yes they will cost you a little more, but as more and more people chose to buy them the prices will drop. And to receive the organic certification the farmers must abide by a stringent set of rules.

You can also choose to buy your fruits and vegetables in season from a local farmers market. Now that doesn’t guarantee that they don’t use pesticides but you can ask them. Most small farmers try to avoid the use of chemicals because of the health risks and the cost.

You can also buy fruits and vegetables that have been shown to have the lowest pesticide levels. These are asparagus, avocado, banana, cauliflower, cantaloupe, melon, watermelon, corn, kiwi, onion, mango, papaya, pineapple, and sweet peas.

Fruits and vegetables that have a thick skin have less pesticide contamination so look for fruits and vegetables that have the thickest skins.

The fruits and vegetables that were shown to have the highest pesticide levels were apple, bell pepper, celery, cherry, grape, nectarine, peach, pear, potato, raspberry, spinach, and strawberry. It may be a good idea to buy these in organic form only.

So what does one do? If no one is willing to give us the straight goods on whether pesticides on fruits and vegetables pose a serious health risk it’s hard to know what the right decision is.

Some simple suggestions. Consider feeding children only organic fruits and veggies because the pesticides are likely to be more serious for them. Buy all your fruits and vegetables organic if you can. Always wash your fruits and veggies with a good vegetable scrub. Peel fruits like apples, peaches, pears unless they are organic. Buy from the list of fruits and vegetables that have the lowest pesticide rates.

It’s tough to know what to do but logic says pesticides in any amount cannot be good for us, so the best thing you can do is be aware and protect you and your family as best you can.


Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.