Close to a third of all fruits sampled in the study were tainted by hazardous substances in 2019, the last year for which data was available. Photograph: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
Contamination of fresh fruits by the most hazardous pesticides has dramatically increased in Europe over the past decade, according to a nine-year study of government data.
A third of apples and half of all blackberries surveyed had residues of the most toxic categories of pesticides, some of which have been linked to illnesses including cancer, heart disease and birth deformities.
Residues on kiwi fruits rose from 4% in 2011 to 32% in 2019, with the contamination of cherries also more than doubling from 22% to 50% over the same time period.
In all, the analysis of nearly 100,000 popular homegrown fruit samples in Europe found a 53% rise in contamination by the most hazardous pesticides, over nine years. The study was conducted by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe.
The survey did not include British produce but the UK imports over 3.2m tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables from the EU each year, meeting about 40% of internal demand, according to the CBI.
Prof Nicole Van Dam of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) described the report as “shocking”.
“What is the point of eating healthy if the healthy fruits and vegetables are sprayed with toxins?” she asked.
PAN Europe spokeswoman Salomé Roynel said: “Consumers are now in an awful position, told to eat fresh fruit, much of which is contaminated with the most toxic pesticide residues linked to serious health impacts. It is clear to us that governments have no intention of banning these pesticides, whatever the law says. They are too afraid of the farming lobby, which depends on powerful chemicals and a broken agricultural model.”
Roynel said that chemicals used in the most toxic pesticides had no safe limits, and called on consumers to buy organic fruit this summer “especially if they are pregnant or feeding young children”.
The research found that 87% of pears in Belgium and 85% of those in Portugal were contaminated by at least one toxic pesticide.
Close to a third of all fruits sampled were tainted by hazardous substances in 2019, the last year for which data was available to researchers.
The most contaminated fruits sampled were blackberries (51%), peaches (45%), strawberries (38%), cherries (35%) and apricots (35%).
For vegetables, celery (50%), celeriac (45%) and kale (31%) were the most contaminated products. The Guardian - link - Arthur Neslen - link - more like this (food and drink) - link - more like this (pollution) - link
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