Twelve vegetables with the highest amounts of pesticides in them.

[Fridays Child]

This was on my local NBC affiliate, so I don't have a link. Below are the twelve worst, and by the way, washing or peeling them doesn't make a difference. If possible, always try to buy the certified organic versions of these vegetables.

peaches
apples
sweet bell peppers
celery
nectarines
strawberries
cherries
pears
imported grapes
spinach
lettuce
potatoes

And here are twelve that had no, or almost no, detectable traces of pesticides:

onions
avocados
frozen sweet corn
pineapples
mangoes
asparagus
frozen sweet peas
kiwis
bananas
cabbage
broccoli
papaya

[fasttense]

1. That's why I grow my own. n/t

[zanne]

6. You have to make your own compost, right?

Otherwise, you're just using other people's pesticides. I have a huge compost pile of my own, but when I first started it, I used to throw old houseplants that people had given me in there, so I probably have pesticides in my compost. It sucks, but you have to be really careful.

[trotsky]

2. Potatoes. That kind of surprises me.

I would have expected the others, since they are exposed to direct application of pesticides. That potatoes can absorb it all down in the root system is disturbing.

[zanne]

4. The pesticides could be already present in the soil.

Which would make topical application just added insult.

[trotsky]

7. True.

But why are onions seemingly so much better? Crazy stuff.

[sybylla]

9. Because onions aren't bothered by insects - hence no pesticide

Grow your own and you'll see that there are very few pests who enjoy onions.

[trotsky]

13. I must be one of those pests who enjoy them.

[OzarkDem]

3. Here's an article

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/food/...

Link to Environmental Working Group - who compiled the data from USDA studies

http://www.ewg.org /

The biggest problem is that there is not enough research to definitely link pesticides to health problems. Not to say they don't but its an area that doesn't get enough research funding. We really need to push for more funding of this kind of research.

[Wickerman]

5. Here's a link

very interesting.

http://www.wbir.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=3924...

[texpatriot2004]

8. toxic food nm

[leftchick]

10. I find the bananas hard to believe

have you ever seen how they are held in bags on the trees and soaked with pesticides?

[Jcrowley]

11. Bananas are heavily fumigated

Ecuador: Widespread Labor Abuse on Banana Plantations
Harmful Child Labor, Anti-Union Bias Plague Industry
 

NEW YORK - April 25 - Banana workers in Ecuador are the victims of serious human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch charged in a new report released today.

In its investigation, Human Rights Watch found that Ecuadorian children as young as eight work on banana plantations in hazardous conditions, while adult workers fear firing if they try to exercise their right to organize. Ecuador is the world’s largest banana exporter and the source of roughly one quarter of all bananas on the tables of U.S. and European consumers.

Banana-exporting corporations such as Ecuadorian-owned Noboa and Favorita, as well as Chiquita, Del Monte, and Dole fail to use their financial influence to insist that their supplier plantations respect workers’ rights, the report found. Dole leads the pack of foreign multinationals in sourcing from Ecuador, obtaining nearly one third of all its bananas from the country.

“The Ecuadorian bananas on your table may have been produced under appalling conditions,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. “Banana companies have a duty to uphold workers’ rights. Ecuador is obligated under international law to do so.”

http://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0425-01.htm

In the course of their work, they were exposed to toxic pesticides, used sharp knives and machetes, hauled heavy loads of bananas, drank unsanitary water, and some were sexually harassed. Roughly 90 percent of the children told Human Rights Watch that they continued working while toxic fungicides were sprayed from airplanes flying overhead. For their efforts, the children earned an average of $3.50 per day, approximately 60 percent of the legal minimum wage for banana workers.

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. Most of those are fruits, not vegetables

Sorry, I'm being pendantic.

That first list is pretty scary, but I'd wait until I saw some research before I paniced.

[theHandpuppet]

14. People have been sold a bill of goods about pesticides

I have a small organic garden at home. In addition to the many vegetables I raise, I also have several types of grapes and three semi-dwarf apple trees (two Granny Smith, one yellow delicious). I use NO artifical fertilizers (make my own compost) and NO pesticides. Guess what? No bugs. None on the grapes or the apples. None on the peppers, tomatoes, turnips, parsnips, onions, carrots, broccoli, peas or limas. The ONLY pest problem I've had is with cabbage and squash (slugs and squash bugs).

My grandparents were sold on spraying everything on their farm with malithion. That stuff was so nasty I swore I'd never cover my food with that crap! Companion planting and herbs have helped. Perhaps other parts of the country have a bigger problem.

Oh, btw, one nice thing about NOT using pesticides -- the natural predators in our garden, such as the ladybug and praying mantis, are doing very well and there are plenty of pollinators who are happy to oblige the flowering plants.

[MountainLaurel]

15. Good to know

This is one of those informational things I should print out and take to the grocery store with me while shopping.