Pesticide Residue Calculator
What is the purpose of the calculator?
To demonstrate to consumers just how safe it is to eat any fruit or vegetable, we reached out to toxicologists to provide us with information on how much of a produce item a man, woman, teenager or child could eat in a day and still not have any health effects from pesticide residues. The analysis found that a child could eat hundreds to thousands of servings of a fruit or vegetable in a day, which shows how minute residues are on produce, if they are present at all.
Who provided the scientific analysis used in developing this tool?
The analysis was conducted by toxicologists with the Personal Chemical Exposure Program at University of California. The Alliance for Food and Farming provided unrestricted financial assistance to the University of California to support human chemical exposure analysis.
What is the size of the “servings” mentioned in this report?
Serving sizes are based on two reports published by the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture (USDA). The reports are titled Foods Commonly Eaten in the U.S. and USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Serving sizes vary by product and are adjusted for specific age ranges of consumers.
What is meant by “the highest pesticide residue recorded by the USDA”?
Toxicologists examined data from the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program for fruits and vegetables. For purposes of creating a “worst case scenario,” the scientists calculated the numbers in this report using the highest pesticide residue found on each of the produce items tested through the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program.
The USDA’s Pesticide Data Program has been in existence since 1991 and is designed to continually monitor pesticide residues on food to ensure they are safe to eat by any age group — especially children — over a long period of time.
What exactly is the calculation used on your website to determine risk from pesticides?
In this analysis, the toxicologists use a calculation involving: the “No Observed Adverse Effect Level” as established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the pesticide in question; the average body weight for each consumer group; the amount of pesticide measured by the USDA Pesticide Data program; and the serving size of the produce item adjusted for the age and size of the consumer.
The full report which explains the exact calculation can be found at: this link
What is meant by “no effect?”
For every product there is a point, or a dose level, that will not produce a response in a living organism. In the world of pesticide regulation, that point is called the No Observed Adverse Effect Level.
While your report lists the number of servings that can be eaten in one day, what about the effect of eating produce every day for a long period of time?
It is important to note that it is not recommended to eat the large quantities of produce in a day (hundreds to thousands of servings) referenced in this calculating exercise for many reasons.
The estimates of consumption used in the calculator are based on well-designed animal studies performed during rigorous pesticide safety evaluations and use scientific models to project observations from animal studies on humans.
Extensive testing is done on pesticides to determine safety tolerances established by the EPA. These tests take into account acute and long-term exposure; aggregate risk from other sources; cumulative risks from other pesticides; and include additional safety factors to protect children, infants and fetuses.
The USDA’s Pesticide Data Program consistently shows over 99 percent of the fruits and vegetables monitored have residues well below safety levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a third have no detectable residues at all.
Even if the pesticide residues on produce are very small, why would I choose to eat produce that has any pesticides at all when I can buy organic?
Decades of toxicology studies and government sampling data show that it is safe to eat fruits and vegetables whether they are conventionally or organically grown and health experts encourage increased consumption of all produce for better health and a longer life. Toxicologists around the world agree that the mere presence of pesticide residues does not pose a health risk. They also tell us that pesticide residues are currently measured in “parts per million,” “parts per billion,” and “parts per trillion.” Technology is continually advancing to measure pesticides in even smaller amounts to the point where there is no such thing as zero.
If consumers are still concerned, the Federal Food and Drug Administration states that residues, if present at all, can be reduced or even eliminated by washing fruits and vegetables under running tap water.
