Dangerous pesticides: Here are the most polluted fruits and vegetables

Here’s an arrangement that can affect your runs. After analyzing 14,000 official medical examinations conducted on products sold in France, The UFC-Que Choisir Consumer Protection Association notes, this Thursday, March 24, found that more than half of the fruits and vegetables from conventional farming were contaminated with hazardous pesticides, and for about a third of them, they would contain… two. The association requests the competent authorities to put in place stricter procedures and controls for the use of these wastes suspected of being carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction, DNA or the presence of endocrine disrupting factors.

Assembly A categorized by pollution Fruit and vegetable analysis. Lots of products that are frequently consumed. At the top of the gondola: Cherries are 92% contaminated according to the UFC. For nearly half of these red fruits studied, an insecticide was found: phosmite, which would be toxic to reproductive function. Next comes celery and grapefruit. For approximately one-quarter of the grapefruits analyzed, the controls included pyriproxyphene, which is highly suspected of being a source of endocrine disruptor malformations, notes the UFC. Peaches and nectarines follow, and even tea, coffee and infusions. Brussels sprouts and apples, nearly 80% contaminated, shut out the top 8.

Asparagus and kiwi at the end of the can

For the rest we find between 60 and 79% of the contaminated samples: grapes, strawberries, green beans, pomegranate, celery, wheat flour, fennel and eggplant. Between 50 and 60%, fruits and vegetables are also included and are very common: lettuce, peppers, melons, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, rice, garlic, spinach, oranges and even wine … Note that asparagus, kiwi and broccoli are the least contaminated, according to this classification.

⋙Manufacturers will soon have to mention the presence of endocrine disruptors in their products

UFC-Que-choisir also notes that fruits and vegetables from organic farming, which bans synthetic pesticides, are much less polluted. A comparison of samples from intensive farming and samples from organic farming shows that there are seven times as many pesticides as dangerous for organic green beans, eight times less for organic apples, and six times less for organic tomatoes, the Consumer Protection Agency details.

The association calls for a change in regulations and regrets that the latter does not provide adequate protection to consumers from these particles that are suspected to be harmful to health, even at very low doses.