Each year, the Environmental Working Group publishes the “Dirty Dozen” report of foods that test positive for pesticide residues.
While these foods may show pesticide residue is present, the risk is negligible. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tolerance levels for pesticide residues is protective of human health. Test results are at levels well below tolerances set by the EPA.
Drs. Carl Winter and Josh Katz of the Department of Food Science and Technology a the University of California-Davis are leading experts in the issue of pesticide residues.
In a peer-reviewed, scientific article in the prestigious Journal of Toxicology (2011) they state the following conclusions:
- “Exposures to the most commonly detected pesticides on the twelve commodities pose negligible risks to consumers.”
- “Substitution of organic forms of the twelve commodities for conventional forms does not result in any appreciable reduction of consumer risks.”
- “The methods used by the environmental advocacy group to rank commodities with respect to (potential) pesticide risks lacks scientific credibility.“
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3135239/
Other resources:
www.clemson.edu/extension/peach/faq/dirty-dozen-pesticide-residues.html
http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/pesticides-on-food
