Fruit and vegetables in Europe are increasingly contaminated with PFAS pesticide residues, according to a new report from the Pesticide Action Network Europe.
The 91-page report, called “Toxic Harvest: The rise of forever pesticides in fruit and vegetables in Europe,” states the number of European fruit and vegetables with detected PFAS pesticide residues has nearly tripled between 2011 and 2021, with a growth rate of 220% for fruit and of 274% for vegetables, according to a news release.
The ongoing accumulation of PFAS in soils, waters and the food chain, along with other chemical substances or “chemical cocktails,” pose long-term risks to human health and the environment, the release said.
“A ban on the use of PFAS pesticides is urgent to curb European citizen exposure to PFAS pesticides and protect citizen health, including that of the most vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, babies and children,” the Pesticide Action Network Europe said in the release.
The study tracked the presence of the active substances used in pesticides in the EU that are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. In some of the EU member states studied individually, the growth rate has been even more dramatic, such as Austria (+698% for fruit, +3,277% for vegetables) and Greece (+696% in fruit, +1,974% in vegetables), the release said.
A detailed analysis of the 2021 data, the most recent published to date, shows that non-organic fruit, especially summer fruit, are the products most frequently contaminated with PFAS pesticide residues, according to the release.
Zooming in on fruits grown in Europe, 37% of strawberries, 35% of peaches and 31% of apricots are contaminated, the release said. Of this contaminated European-grown fruit, 20% contain cocktails of PFAS pesticide residues, with up to four different PFAS pesticides detected in a single sample of strawberries and table grapes, and up to three in peaches and apricots, according to the release.
While, on average, a smaller percentage of European-grown vegetables (12%) is contaminated with PFAS pesticide residues compared to fruit, some vegetables are as frequently contaminated as the top-ranked fruit (chicories: 42%; cucumbers: 30%).
Among imported fruit and vegetables, those most likely to contain residues of PFAS pesticides came from Costa Rica (41%), India (38%), South Africa (28%), Colombia (26%) and Morocco (24%), the release said.
In 2021, the most often detected PFAS active substances in contaminated European-grown products were the fungicide fluopyram, the insecticide flonicamid and the fungicide trifloxystrobin, the report said.
