| The
EWG used data from more than 100,000 government pesticide
tests between 1992 and 2001 and devised a composite
score for each of 46 popular fruits and vegetables.
The scores take into account the percentage of samples
contaminated, the number of different pesticides found
on each, and the total amount of residue.
PERSPECTIVE
CHECK!
This does not mean you should not eat fruits and vegetables
that appear on the "contaminated" list. The
list is published to remind you to wash all fruits and
vegetables which are not wrapped in "skins"
you'd normally remove. (For the most part, produce in
"skins" make the "least-contaminated
list for this reason.)
Most
experts agree that you should not avoid fruits and vegetables
because eating more of these can lower your risk of
developing heart disease and certain types of cancer.
If
you want to reduce the incidence of exposure to conventionally
grown pesticide exposure, you can buy organically grown
foods. |