Pesticides are necessary to control various pests and transmitters of pathologies, but using them in excess can result in a greater intake of chemicals through the diet that could harm the health of the consumer. Now, Ecologists in Action has found 123 pesticide residues in Spanish food -especially in fruits and vegetables- and warns that 46 are not authorized and 66 are endocrine disruptors.
The data comes from the latest analysis by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), which was carried out in 2021. According to this study, 40% of the 1,904 samples analyzed had one or more traces of pesticides, 5% more than the previous year.
The organization has called the situation “worrying”. They insist that 46 pesticides not authorized by the EU are still present in food and that 17 pesticides on the list of ‘candidates for substitution’ have been detected, substances so dangerous that Europe forces them to be replaced by safe alternatives.
In this analysis, 66 pesticides with the capacity to alter the hormonal system (or endocrine disruptors) were also detected, which can cause health problems and damage the environment in small quantities, the agency says.
The foods with the most residues were fruits and vegetables: 121 (65 of them endocrine disruptors) contaminated 43% of these products. The presence of these chemicals stands out in table grapes, with 51 substances (28 endocrine disruptors) and sweet peppers, with 32 (18 endocrine disruptors).
Tangerines and grapefruit had 28, and pears 23. On the other hand, only 3.4% of samples of animal origin contained pesticides.
“The risk to the population is not eliminated by washing or peeling food. It is essential that the Spanish Government take measures, such as supporting and meeting the objective of reducing the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030 proposed by the European Regulation for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. For this, aid is needed for the agricultural sector, which must learn new ways of growing food without the archaic use of toxins,” said Kistiñe García, spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción, in a statement.
Koldo Hernández, another of the organization’s spokespersons, adds that “the Government must also investigate why more than a third of the pesticides detected are not authorized, and must replace the most dangerous authorized ones on the list of candidates, with more sustainable alternatives.” ”.
