By now you know, even the fruit and vegetables we bring to the table are contaminated by Pfas, but what is the situation in our country? Isde Italia, with the data collected by the “Toxic Harvest” project, confirms that contamination is a serious problem also in our markets and supermarkets
Last year, a Pan Europe study revealed that the non -organic fruit and vegetables sold in the EU is increasingly contaminated by the dangerous PFAS, often present in the vegetable fruit and vegetables due to the pesticides used in agriculture, which contain precisely PFAS .
But How is the situation in Italy? In the Pan Europe study, detailed data on our country were missing, data that have now been integrated by Isde Italia, confirming that the problem is more than ever present also in our markets and supermarkets. Indeed, if possible, the Italian situation even appears more serious than the European one, at least as regards vegetables.
The average growth of PFAS contamination in Italian vegetables is in fact much higher, with an increase of 536% than 292% at European level. In addition, while the Italian fruit in 2021 recorded a slightly lower contamination rate of European average (17% against 19%), some Italian fruits far exceed the percentage of contamination found in Europe.
A situation that exposes consumers to quite a few risks, Isde writes:
The results show a growing exposure of European consumers through daily food products. Although this source of contamination from PFAS is currently minimized compared to that of other best -known PFAS, the continuous accumulation of PFAS in the food chain and the formation of chemical cocktails place chronic risks to human health. It is urgent to prohibit PFAS pesticides to curb the exposure to PFAS through food and protect the health of citizens, in particular that of the most vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, babies and children.
PFAS data in Italian fruit and vegetables
Between 2011 and 2021, 46,455 fruit and vegetable samples were analyzed in Italy. Here’s what emerged:
Overall, the aggregate contamination rate is 6.2% for fruit and vegetables, with 23 of the 47 selected PFAS pesticides detected in the samples.
Just like in the rest of Europe, even in Italy the percentage of contaminated samples has increased drastically in ten years: for fruit it has gone from 1.9% in 2011 to 10.7% in 2021, with an average increase of 292 %. For vegetables, however, it went from 0.7% in 2011 to 5.2% in 2021, with an average increase of 536%.
The types of most contaminated fruit and vegetables in Italy
As for fruit, The bananas were the most contaminated, with PFAS pesticides residues present in 60% of the samples, followed by pears (48%) and peaches (38%).
This is the complete list of fruit most contaminated by PFAS, cultivated in Italy:
Among the vegetables, Instead, the cucumbers are those who have shown the highest level of contamination (34%), followed by celery (24%) e peppers (14%).
This is the complete list of vegetables most contaminated by PFAS:
The contamination of imported fruit and vegetables
In 2021, 13% of the vegetables imported in Italy was contaminated by Pfas pesticides residues. The most interested vegetables were peppers, lettuce and green beans.
The peppers showed the highest percentage of contamination, with 27% of the samples containing residues of three different PFAS pesticides, followed by the lettuce (11% of the contaminated samples, with a single pesticide detected) and green beans (9% of the contaminated samples , with a single pesticide detected).
As regards fruit, in 2021, PFAS pesticides residues were detected in 22% of all samples, with bananas, grapefruits and oranges that are the most frequently contaminated fruits. Among these, 36% of banana champions contained residues from a single PFAS pesticide, present in all contaminated samples. As for grapefruits, 16% of the samples analyzed showed residues of at least one PFAS pesticide; Overall, three different pesticides were identified, and residues from two pesticides were present in some single samples. Finally, 14% of the orange champions contained residues of a single PFAS pesticide, also detected in all contaminated samples.
With regard to the countries from which fruit and vegetables arrives, The products with the highest contamination rate in 2021 came from Costa Rica (58%), Colombia (38%) and Argentina (27%). The samples from South Africa highlighted the greater diversity of Pfas pesticides detected (four), while South Africa and Spain recorded the maximum number of PFAS pesticides in a single sample (two).
The 10 Pfas most detected in fruit and vegetables in 2021
In 2021, in the 5,130 Italian fruit and vegetable samples collected in the EU Member States, the three most frequently detected PFAS substances were the Fluopyram, the Triplumuron and the Lambda Cialootrina.
Following the 10 most frequent Pfas in Ortofrutta.
What is being done in Europe to limit the PFAS
The European Commission is evaluating the ban on some pesticides containing Pfas but Isde Italia and Pan Europe ask for the adoption of more ambitious measures, including:
