Pesticides used in fruits and vegetables can increase the risk of cancer in children, describes the Daily Mail of the scientific journal Environmental Health.
The study included 364 children; 207 of them were up to 5 years old. Scientists found significant amounts of arsenic, dieldrin and dioxins, and in more than 95% of children acrylamide – a by-product of cooking processed foods such as crisps and tortilla. In addition, the levels of toxins were particularly high in tomatoes, peaches, apples, peppers, grapes, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, spinach, green peas and beans, as well as celery.
Scientists point out that children are much more exposed to the harmful effects of toxins than adults because of their constant development. Currently, the US Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the extent to which eating toxin-contaminated food can cause disease. Pesticides are not always removable from fruit and vegetables during their processing; toxins such as acrylamide are virtually impossible to remove and can increase the risk of cancer.
This is not the first study of this type – as early as 2007, similar tests were carried out examining food products and their associated dangers, examining California children aged 2 to 5 years and 44 products considered likely to be heavily contaminated.
The study listed such toxins as: metals: arsenic, lead and mercury; pesticides: chlorpyrifos, permethrin and endosulfan and dioxin-like substances, dieldrin and chlordane, and acrylamide. Tests have also shown that the level and type of pesticides often depends on the type of food – some toxins are more in lettuce and broccoli, and others in peaches and apples.
Doctors remind that the results of the research do not mean the need to remove fruit and vegetables from the children’s menu, but encourage them to be more prudent in choosing products and preparing meals (PAP).
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