A new study has confirmed that washing fruit is not enough to remove toxic chemicals and pesticide residues sprayed on it.
The study, which was recently published in the American Chemical Society’s journal “Nano Letters”, explained that the health risks of pesticides do not disappear simply by washing fruits, but there is a high probability that individuals consume these contaminated products daily.
The study also stated that “it is impossible to completely remove pesticides from fruit.”
The researchers noted during their examination of pesticide contamination in apples that these pesticides penetrated the peel and made their way to the pulp layer, but when the apple peel and the top layer of pulp were removed, the contamination was significantly reduced.
Dong Dong Yi, a professor in the College of Materials and Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University and author of the study, hopes that people will resort to peeling the fruit as it is an optimal and more reliable solution to avoid toxins.
The research suggests that peeling the fruit can effectively eliminate all pesticide residues, instead of washing it multiple times. The study confirmed that “although peeling the fruit will lose much of its nutritional value, it is the best solution and alternative to washing it to avoid the risks of pesticide toxins.”
