We are trying to live a good and healthy lifestyle, but how safe are we and our family in relation to buying the fruits and vegetables that we like in the market?
What are the fruits and vegetables affected?
Well, that depends on each country. Here is an article taken from Shine in Yahoo (I believe this is in the United States), the identified dirty dozens for 2011 are the following: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines (imported), sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries (domestic), lettuce, and kale/collard greens (source: Shine from Yahoo) and an additional list from another site which include most of the dirty dozens plus cherries (US), peaches, apricots, green beans, grapes (Chile), cucumber, pears and winter squash (source: Eartheasy).
What are the chemicals present?
There are several, but these are the two major groups: namely, the organochlorine pesticides like DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin and antichlolinesterase compounds like organophosphate pesticides.
How dangerous can they become?
Organochlorine pesticide will accumulate in the fatty tissues and eventually lead to interfering with hormonal function of estrogens, testosterone, and other steroid hormones (source: Wikipedia). In a nutshell, this will affect the physical, metabolic and biochemical development of children, men, and women.
Certain organophosphates (anticholisterase compounds) cause an irreversible delayed-onset toxicity to nerve cells, persistent deficits in cognitive function on long term exposure, and may cause developmental neurotoxicity at much lower doses(source: Wikipedia). In general, this will affect the brain functions and activities for both developing child and adults(they become less attentive).
Is the government doing something about this?
Yes, the government is doing something about this (if not, let them!). Please get the information from your government agencies for more details. Here is a link to another group, the Food & Fertilizer Technology Center, which is devoted to pesticide and its issues.
So what do we do now?
According to Eartheasy, these are some of the things that we can do:
· Buy organic products from known and reputable places.
· Wash your vegetables and fruits using a very diluted solution of mild dishwashing detergent (1 teaspoon of detergent per gallon or 4 litters of water).
· For grapes, strawberries, green beans, and leafy vegetables, swirl the foods in a dilute solution of dish detergent and water at room temperature for 5 to 10 seconds, then rinse with slightly warm water.
· For the other fruits and vegetables, use a soft brush to scrub the food with the solution for about 5 to 10 seconds, and then rinse again with slightly warm water (I do this… :)).
· Peeling fruits with high residue levels, especially peaches, pears and apples, will help remove residues. Be sure to keep the peelings out of the compost. Some pesticides permeate the skin of the fruit, so this method does not guarantee residual free produce in all cases.
· Grow your own. You may want to visit About.com Gardening for a little help on this :) .
For further information on "what to do...", please go to Eartheasy.
So what's my opinion on this?
The first question that we need to ask is this, how far does the pesticide goes into the fruits and vegetables? If it just skin deep (surface deep), then washing with soap and water or a special solution can eliminate the problem easily, but if the chemical goes deeper into the fruits and vegetables interior, then we can't do much about it. We can either throw this or take the risk of accumulating the pesticides into our system.
Guys, the pesticides that we might be ingesting into our system both accumulate and harmful. Accumulate means it stays in the body, which might be eliminated slowly or not at all. Harmful means it attacks the hormones or nerves of the body. Hormones are responsible for the physical development and for normal functioning while the nerves or the nervous system serves as the main control center. These are major players in keeping us healthy and messing them up will strike us greatly. :)
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