Natural Home : What's on Your Table

'We now eat food grown by unnatural processes which make use of a host of chemical substances: hormones, antibiotics, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides - of which residues are to be found in nearly all the food commercially available today.' Edward Goldsmith, The Ecologist, Vol 30 No 7, October 2000

Toxic Fruit and Veges

Top most contaminated foods according to the Enviromental Working Group based on the results of more than 100,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1992 and 2001. These test results were obtained after washing the produce.

Highest in pesticides :

Apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, rapasberries, spinach and strawberries

Lowest in pesticides :

Asparagus, avocados, banana, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onions, papaya, pineapples, sweet peas

Ranking of 49 fruits and veggies from most contaminated to least :

Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Spinach, Nectarines, Celery, Pears, Cherries, Potatoes, Sweet bell peppers, Raspberries, Imported Grapes, Carrots, Green beans, hot peppers, Oranges, Apricots, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Collar greens, Domestic Grapes, Turnip greens, Honeydew melons, Lettuce, Kale, Mushrooms, Cantaloupe, Sweet potatoes, Grapefruit, Winter squash, Blueberries, Watermelon, Plums, Tangerines, Cabbage, Papaya, Kiwi, Bananas, Broccoli, Onions, Asparagus, Sweet Peas, Mango, Cauliflower, Pineapples, Avocado, Sweet Corn.

According to one study, 91% of apples had pesticide residues on them. Each one of those chemicals causes a range of nervous system, reproductive system and immune system disturbances. Now imagine them all together. No one knows how they interact, just as with pharmacological prescriptions, the associations of drugs cause different responses in humans. The more common ones are:

2 4-d, Acephate, Azinphos methyl, Benomyl, Captan, Carbaryl, Chlorothalonil, Chlorpropham, DDT, Diazinon, Dicloran, Dicofol, Dimethoate, Diphenylamine (DPA), Disulfoton, Endosulfans, Fenbutatin oxide, Fenvalerate, Formetanate hydrochloride, Imazalil, Iprodione, Lindane (BHC gamma), Metalaxyl, Methomyl, Mevinphos Total, Myclobutanil, O-Phenylphenol, Oxamyl, Parathion ethyl, Permethrin Total, Phosalone, Phosmet, Phosphamidon, Propargite, Pyridaben, Thiabendazole

 

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