A Disturbing New Report Reveals That Rinsing Pesticides Off Fruits and Vegetables Might Not Actually Work

We all know we need to be washing our fruits and vegetables. Between chemicals and pesticides, dirt (our food does grow in the dirt!), and the people who are touching those fruits and vegetables with bare hands before you place it in your cart, it is always a good idea to give them a good rinse. However, a disturbing new report did find that a simple rinse won’t completely get rid of the pesticides in your produce. They aren’t just found on the skin of your fruits, but may also seep through the layers.

The 2024 report was published in Nano Letters by the American Chemical Society. Researchers used imaging technology to look at how pesticides affect apples, and they concluded that there’s a “distribution of pesticides in the apple peel and pulp layers confirming that the pesticides penetrate the peel layer into the pulp layer.” So the pesticides aren’t just on the peel; they may also be seeping into the pulp of your fruit.

Although this study is meant to inform consumers about their food, the scientists did say that they aren’t looking to scare anyone away from eating these items. Especially when produce is marked as safe to eat.

Keep in mind that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), set limits on how much pesticide can be used on a food to grow, process, and store, and foods that are sold are deemed safe to eat after routine reviews by the EPA. While there might be some pesticide residuals on your food, according to the Alliance for Food & Farming, you would have to eat a lot of this produce for the chemicals to have any effect on your body. For example, a woman would have to eat 850 apples a day, and a man would have to eat 1,190.

So yes, while it is important to know about the latest research when it comes to our food, it’s also important to continue eating fruits and vegetables that are beneficial for the proper functioning of our bodies. Especially when the government deems the food safe to eat based on all of the particular rules and guidelines they set for farmers, and how little the pesticides actually show up on the food you buy.