May
07
2022

The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen

By | Cancer, food, organic food

This article describes the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen.

The environmental working group (EWG) defined the “dirty dozen” as crops, which farmers pollute by repetitive spraying. Notably, this is a list of the 12 most insecticide-sprayed crops like strawberries, spinach, tomatoes and others. It is important to realize that in the last few years, the EWG added the 15 clean crops. For this reason, if you want to avoid toxins on your food you exchange the 12 dirty dozen for organically grown crops. Specifically, you can also rest assured that the pollution levels in your food is of no concern, when you add the “clean fifteen” since these crops are relatively non-polluted. By all means, I have used this shopping guide for over 10 years and always look for the yearly updates.

The dirty dozen

Here is the dirty dozen:

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale, collard & mustard greens
  4. Nectarines
  5. Apples
  6. Grapes
  7. Bells and hot peppers
  8. Cherries
  9. Peaches
  10. Pears
  11. Celery
  12. Tomatoes

It is important to realize that certain agricultural methods lead to the insecticide contamination of the dirty dozen. It may come as a surprise that not only spinach, strawberries and cherries, but also apples, grapes, celery and tomatoes are very contaminated. I buy only organic equivalent versions of the dirty dozen.

The list of the clean fifteen

Here is the list of the clean fifteen:

  1. Avocados
  2. Sweet corn
  3. Pineapple
  4. Onions
  5. Papaya
  6. Sweet peas (frozen)
  7. Asparagus
  8. Honeydew melon
  9. Kiwi
  10. Cabbage
  11. Mushrooms
  12. Cantaloupe
  13. Mangoes
  14. Watermelon
  15. Sweet potatoes

These are crops that you can buy and eat, because they are not contaminated with insecticide spray. There is a yearly update on the website, which informs you of any changes of the contaminated crops. So far little has changed over several years.

According to the CNN article cited in the beginning of this article 70% of the clean fifteen list have no detectable residues of pesticides. Just under 5% of this list had two or more pesticide residues. For this reason I would label those as relatively non- polluted.

Why pesticides are dangerous

Toxicity of pesticides depends on the chemical configuration. Some are more toxic than others. But in combination pesticides are much more toxic than each one of them alone. Some pesticides irritate the skin, others the eyes. Other chemicals are toxic to the nervous system and the hormone system. And on the long-term pesticides can cause cancer.

Specific toxins

  • DCPA http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/DCPA.htm is a general herbicide that farmers spray on several vegetable crops. It was banned by the European Union in 2009.
  • Nut and fruit tree farms use Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide, which farmers also spray on broccoli and cauliflower. The EPA banned this substance in February 2022. Chlorpyrifos contains an enzyme that causes neurotoxicity in children. It also causes neurodevelopmental effects in children.
  • Organophosphates block acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that inactivates acetylcholine. Toxicity of organophosphates comes from poisoning with acetylcholine, which overstimulates muscles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organophosphate_poisoning#Pathophysiology The brains of babies and children are very sensitive to the toxic effect of organophosphates.
  • A number of pesticides are endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This can have permanent or long-lasting effects on the reproductive development. https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=NHEERL&dirEntryId=212273

 Complaints of the industry about the EWG

The industry has repeatedly complained about the EWG that the publication of the dirty dozen would harm the sales of crops. But studies done by the EWG showed that only 1 in 6 consumers are buying less vegetables and fruit. Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the EWG with expertise in toxic chemicals and pesticides said: “The study actually shows that just over half of people surveyed said the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list made them more likely to buy fruits and vegetables.”

Here is what the consumer can do  

  • Rinse fruit and vegetables before you serve it; this removes surface toxins
  • Buy food from a local farmer; you can enquire about his farming practices.
  • Buy produce in season; if you buy organic crops they are most reasonable are that time, and you can prepare or freeze the fruit and vegetables for future use.
The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen

The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen

Conclusion

The environmental working group (EWG) developed the concept of the 12 dirty dozen and the clean fifteen crops. The consumer needs to know the 12 dirty dozen, as he/she has to buy organic crops as a replacement for this. On the other hand, you can buy the 15 clean crops, but you first need to know what is on the list. Knowledge is power, and knowing about these crops ensures that you keep insecticides, fungicides and herbicides out of your body. This information is not only important for adults and youth, but particularly important for babies and small children. Chlorpyrifos, which was banned in February of 2022 in the US causes neurotoxicity in children. But it also causes neurodevelopmental effects in children. The cleaner the crops are that we eat, the healthier our bodies are.

Apr
17
2021

Which are the Most and Least Contaminated Crops

By | breast cancer, Infertility, Nutrition, toxins

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Farmers are spraying many crops with pesticides, so which are the most and least contaminated crops? Recently, the Environmental Working Group’s 2021 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce was published. The various fruit and vegetables are also called the “dirty dozen”. You see from this readily that the most contaminated crops are strawberries, followed by spinach and kale, collard and mustard greens. Nectarines, apples and grapes are next followed by cherries, peaches and pears. The list is made complete by bell and hot peppers, celery and tomatoes.

Safety of food

This means that it is not safe to eat any of these fruit and vegetables from regular crops, as they are all contaminated by pesticides. It is advisable to exchange these crops and buy the organic version of each instead. This is easy to do, and I have done this for years. If you have a garden or access to a community garden, you can also grow some of them yourself.

What pesticides do in the body

People can acquire pesticides orally as contamination of crops. But people can absorb them as well by inhalation or through the skin. People affected by pesticides may complain about a sore throat, a cough, eye and skin irritation. They also may develop a headache, loss of consciousness, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. In the worst case there can be profound weakness, seizures and death.

You may think:” Why worry? There is probably just a little bit left, and this surely will not harm me.” But make no mistake: many of the pesticides are hormone disruptors, and that “little bit” does matter!

Action of hormone disruptors

Hormone disruptors may have a molecular structure similar to estrogen. As a result, laboratory analysis may show smaller semen counts in males causing infertility.  Women can develop cysts in the ovaries, menstrual bleeding abnormalities and breast cancer. With pregnancy pesticides can cause early miscarriages. In addition, women can also have fertility problems as a result of hormone disruptors.

A French study showed that consumption of organic food reduces cancer risk

One way to find out what pesticides (insecticides) are doing to the body is to do a comparative study. In France researchers compared cancer rates between people who consumed organic food and others who ate regular food (treated with pesticides). Researchers recruited 68,946 French adults for the study. More than ¾ of the study population were women in their mid 40’s. Researchers divided these subjects into 4 groups depending on how many of 16 organic food groups they were consuming.

Details of the French study (organic food intake versus non-organic food intake)

First of all, the type of foods included fruit and vegetables, ready-to-eat meals, meat and fish, vegetable oils and condiments, dietary supplements and other products. Also, the investigators followed this population for an average of 4 ½ years. Finally, during that time 1,340 cancers developed. 459 breast cancers occurred, 180 prostate cancers, 135 skin cancers, 99 colorectal cancers and 47 non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Those who ate the most organic food developed 25% less cancer on average. When it came to Hodgkin’s lymphoma, organic food consumers developed 73% less of it than people on regular food. Postmenopausal breast cancer was 21% less frequent among those who had the highest amount of organic food.

The least contaminated fruit and vegetables

The Environmental Working Group’s 2021 Shopper’s Guide for the least contaminated fruit and vegetables lists the following. Avocados, sweet corn, pineapples and onions. Papayas, frozen sweet peas, eggplant, asparagus, broccoli and cabbage are next. Finally, kiwifruit, cauliflower, mushrooms, honeydew and cantaloupe complete the list of the least contaminated crops. This means that you can buy these crops without concern whether or not you should buy the organic version. It is good to know what is acceptable and what you need to avoid by buying the organic version.

GMO foods and Roundup

It is interesting that there is no law in the US and in Canada that GMO foods should have a label that identifies crops with genetic modifications. This is changing rapidly as people realize that in many countries of Europe all GMO foods require labeling. Here is a publication that shows that the GMO labeling campaign is gaining momentum.

Genetically modified corn and soy contains the Bt toxin; it has been found in babies as mentioned in this article. Bt toxin damages the small bowel (the ileum) through Cry1Ab (the protein produced in genetically modified corn and soy). This in turn disables the absorption of vitamin B12. We know that this causes anemia. Historically the cause of pernicious anemia was due to a lack of vitamin B12 absorption.

Effects of Roundup

In a publication dated April 2013 Drs. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff discuss the effects of Roundup. They noticed that glyphosate inhibits the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in the liver. This is a crucial detoxification enzyme complex. When toxicity studies of glyphosate in mammals emerged, this was not common knowledge. The CYP enzymes in the liver are important to metabolize and eliminate estrogens and also help to detoxify xenobiotics, which are estrogen-like substances (residues from insecticides).

Glyphosate amplifies the effect of environmental toxins

Thus glyphosate (=” Roundup”) amplifies the damaging effect of environmental toxins and chemical residues from non-organic food that we eat. Researchers have shown a build-up of estrogens and xenoestrogens that are responsible for the development of many cancers (atypical Hodgkin’s lymphoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer etc.). Based on this data it makes sense to switch to as much organic food as you can afford. Organic food does not contain Roundup. For the sake of your health at least stay away from the “dirty dozen”!

Which are the Most and Least Contaminated Crops

Which are the Most and Least Contaminated Crops

Conclusion

The poisoning of the food chain is a real concern. As far as pesticides (insecticides) are concerned the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce has been extremely useful. They publish a yearly guide of the “dirty dozen”, but also of the least contaminated fruit and vegetables. Regular crops with pesticide residues can cause infertility in both men and women. They also can cause early miscarriages in pregnant women. Generally speaking, they can cause headaches, loss of consciousness, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. In the worst case there can be profound weakness, seizures and death. A French study showed that subjects on organic food developed 25% less cancer on average. When it came to Hodgkin’s lymphoma, organic food consumers developed 73% less of it than people on regular food. Postmenopausal breast cancer was 21% less frequent among those who had the highest amount of organic food.

The above contains parts from this blog.