Pesticide contamination on fresh produce is more than just skin deep.
While many of us wash our fruit and veg to remove these chemical residues, new research has found that pesticides can penetrate through the skin of these foods and into the fleshy layers inside.
"Although the scientific community, including relevant regulatory authorities, is aware that washing fruits and vegetables does not remove pesticide residues, the penetration depth and spatial distribution of pesticides have not been evaluated," Dondong Ye, a professor at the School of Materials and Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University in China, told Newsweek.
More From Newsweek Vault: What Is a Health Savings Account?
To explore these effects, Ye and colleagues from Anhui Agricultural University have developed a new imaging technique for detecting even low levels of pesticide contamination in fruits and vegetables.
"This work [...] can visualize the spatial distribution of extremely low concentrations of detection substances and provide recommendations for improving health and avoiding pesticide intake," Ye said.
The technology works by placing a thin, flexible membrane over the surface of fruits and vegetables to amplify the signals of an imaging technique called Raman spectroscopy, which enables the detection of chemicals at different depths and concentrations.
More From Newsweek Vault: Compare the Top Health Savings Account (HSA) Providers
In the U.S., roughly 1 billion pounds of conventional pesticides are used every year to control weeds, insects and other pests, the United States Geological Survey reports. The health impacts of these chemicals depend on the types of pesticide used, but common agricultural chemicals like carbendazim and thiram have been associated with developmental and hormonal disruptions and neurotoxic effects. However, it is unclear how much exposure is required to see these effects.
In a new study, published in the journal Nano Letters, the team used their technology on apples that had been sprayed with everyday pesticides to explore how deeply these chemicals can penetrate into the fruit's pulp.
After washing the apples, the team still saw signatures of both pesticides on the apples' peel as well as in the outermost layers of their fleshy pulp. "This indicates that the pesticides penetrated the pulp layer and that traditional fruit-cleaning operations cannot wholly remove pesticides," the researchers said.
Ye added: "We believe that beyond the technical data, the health advice at the end of this work is more important. For example, with apples, simply peeling the skin can almost completely avoid pesticides. Therefore, we advise growers to use pesticides only when compliance and necessity dictate.
"We consider this work to be a step forward in detection science, and further research would require interdisciplinary collaboration, including chronic toxicity of pesticides, development of green pesticides, and the cycling of pesticides in the ecosystem."
Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
References
Zhou, T., Guo, T., Wang, Y., Wang, A., & Zhang, M. (2023). Carbendazim: Ecological risks, toxicities, degradation pathways and potential risks to human health. Chemosphere, 314, 137723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137723
United States Environmental Protection Agency Prevention, Pesticides And Toxic Substances (7508C), EPA 738-F-04-010 September 2004
Lin, Z., Fu, X., Zheng, K., Han S., Chen, C., Ye, D. (2024), Cellulose Surface Nanoengineering for Visualizing Food Safety, Nano Letters, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01513
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
