The analysis comes from the Environmental Working Group. Every year since 2004, it classifies its Dirty dozen and Fifteen clean lists and combines them as a buying guide for consumers. The “dirtiest” of all is not a fresh fruit or vegetable, but a dried fruit – raisins. Raisins weren’t ranked on the new lists, but their surprising results caught EWG’s attention.

Toxicologists and other researchers at the EWG compare the pesticide contamination of 47 popular, conventional fruits and vegetables that are not organically grown. The review is based on the results of tests performed by the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration on more than 43,000 product samples.

Most pesticide residues fall under government restrictions, the agency said, but advocacy groups like EWG say “legal doesn’t mean safe.” Before testing, the USDA washes, scrubs, and peels fruits and vegetables just like consumers would.

Thomas Galligan, Ph.D, toxicologist at EWG, said researchers continue to study why raisins contain higher traces of pesticides than the grapes from which they are dried, although grapes are on the list this year. Read the rest of his analysis.

Children under the age of 15 eat a total of about 208 million pounds of raisins each year, or about half of the raisins consumed in the United States, according to Zion Market Research. The average American consumed about 1.25 pounds of raisins in 2017, the latest year for which the USDA has information. Zion’s industry analysis shows that just under two-thirds of raisins are consumed as ingredients in other foods, with the remainder being consumed as a stand-alone snack.

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“Infants, babies and young children are extremely vulnerable to even low levels of pesticide exposure, so it is important that parents and caregivers take steps to protect children from these chemicals while providing them with a diet rich in healthy fruits and vegetables, ”said Dr Philip Landrigan. , pediatrician and epidemiologist who is director of the program for global public health and the common good at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College.

“For many Americans, choosing a fully organic diet is not possible, so [pesticide guides] can help give consumers the tools to provide their families with a blend of conventional and organic fruits and vegetables without the punch of pesticides, ”he said.

Growers typically use pesticides to improve crop yields, which can lower retail prices, which is especially important for low-income consumers. The results also show that even products labeled organic can have traces of pesticides.

The EWG group identified two chemicals in particular. One is chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic insecticide, which some research shows can damage children’s brains and nervous systems, even at low levels. The chemical was detected in 5%, or 34 of 670 samples, conventional raisins, and 6%, or five of 86, samples of organic grapes.

California, where the majority of the US raisin supply is produced, recently banned all uses of chlorpyrifos because of the risks it poses to children and farm workers. However, this regulatory change has not been implemented at the federal level.

The second chemical of note is neonicotinoids, which USDA tests have detected on almost a fifth of fruits and vegetables. Neonics are the fastest growing class of insecticides, “despite a decade of research clearly showing that they are highly toxic to bees and other pollinating species,” EWG researchers said. Some human health studies also suggest that exposure to neonics can be harmful to the developing fetus and children, they said.

Residues of at least one of the three neonicotinoid pesticides banned in the European Union – imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam – have been found on more than half of American samples of potatoes, spinach and lettuce tested. At least one of these neonics was also found on more than a quarter of samples of American cherries, watermelons and strawberries.

The Alliance for Food and Farming, which represents both organic and conventional fruit and vegetable farmers, argues that these annual lists overestimate the amount of pesticide detection on food.

“To accurately assess the risks that pesticides present to consumers, three main factors must be taken into account: 1) the amount of residues on the food, 2) the amount of food consumed and 3) the toxicity of the pesticides, said Dr Carl Winter. , professor emeritus of toxicology at the University of California, Davis.

AFF points to an analysis and calculator by toxicologists from the University of California’s Personal Chemical Exposure Program, which found that a child could eat hundreds to thousands of servings of a fruit or ‘a vegetable a day and still no effects on the health of the residues.

Experts from the EWG and AFF stressed that keeping fruits and vegetables in the daily diet is the most important goal. Sometimes budget and availability limit purchases of organic products.

“While we believe consumers should be concerned about pesticide residues on the foods they eat, the health benefits of a diet high in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of exposure to pesticides.” said Alexis Temkin, PhD, toxicologist at EWG. “With the Shopper’s Guide, consumers don’t have to choose between pesticides and healthy eating.

EWG added specific advice to its report as consumers respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s important to know that there is no evidence that people can be exposed to the coronavirus through food, experts say. The pattern of spread is quite different from foodborne pathogens like Salmonella and E.coli. That’s why, even though the risks of COVID-19 are severe, consumers should continue to eat plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables during their home quarantine, the group said.