The analyzes of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan) corresponding to the year 2021 show the high presence of pesticide residues in the food consumed in Spain. Specifically, 43% of the fruit and vegetable samples and 40% of the food set (meat, fish, baby food and others are also analysed) contain pesticide residues, that is, traces of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides. This last amount represents an increase of five percentage points compared to the 2020 analysis, according to a follow-up study by Ecologistas en Acción. In food, 125 different types of pesticides have been detected, although only 2.5% of the samples exceed the legal limits allowed by the regulations.
In addition, these results are indicative of a part of the reality, since the number of samples analyzed is limited (1,904). In fact, Aesan analyzed only four samples per 100,000 inhabitants, when the European Union average is 4.5 times higher.
Fruits and vegetables were the foods with the highest number of these residues: 121 pesticides that contaminated 43% of the samples. The foods with the highest number of pesticides were table grapes, with 51 substances, and sweet peppers, with 32. Regarding the samples of animal origin, 3.39% contained pesticides.
The report considers it “worrying that up to a total of 46 pesticides not authorized by the EU are still present in food”, as a consequence of exceptional authorizations for their use or other known causes (persistent pollutants or illegal use).
Aesan’s analyzes also detected remains of 66 pesticides with the ability to alter the hormonal system (or endocrine disruptors); that is, chemical substances capable of interfering with the natural action of hormones and therefore associated with diseases related to the male and female reproductive system, tumors in hormonal organs, metabolic diseases or disorders of the neuroimmune system, among others.
Luis Ángel (Koldo) Hernández, one of the authors of the study, stresses that “the high percentage of pesticides can constitute a danger because in many cases not a single one is detected in the product, but several”, which is known as the “effect combined or cocktail ”, he exposes. In addition, since certain pesticides are endocrine disruptors, “any dose of exposure, even the lowest, can imply a hazard.”
Koldo Hernández adds: “The Government must also investigate why more than a third of the pesticides detected are not authorized, and replace the most dangerous pesticides with more sustainable alternatives.”
He also considers that Aesan must improve its analysis to provide more representative information, with more samples and with information on the pesticides that are actually used in the fields.
