The latest study on Spanish food pesticides, based on data from the consumer, food security and nutrition agency (AECOSAN), detected 130 different substances in fruits and vegetables. Among the products analyzed, the pear stood out as the fruit with the highest presence of pesticides.
Pears with more pesticides than oranges
According to the report of the Spanish organization, ecologists en ACCION, 41% of fruits had pesticide residues. Some foods concentrate a number and variety of substances higher than others, including unauthorized compounds in the European Union, which shows control failures in the food chain.
The pears counted 31 different pesticides, of which four are not authorized in the EU, two are PFAS (persistent chemicals) and 17 have endocrine disturbance properties. This number exceeds the registered in oranges, which, although they have more endocrine deregulators, do not reach the same balance of substances present in the pears.
Some samples contained up to nine pesticides in a single piece. Official data indicates that 77% of the pears analyzed had waste and more than half contained several pesticides simultaneously. The study included more than 2,400 samples collected in 2023, covering fungicides, insecticides and herbicides also present in sweet, tangerine and oranges.
Risk of multiple pesticides
The report points out that 24% of fruits and vegetables had two or more pesticides simultaneously, while on the pears this proportion rose to 56%. The presence of various chemicals increases health risks.
Although regulation (EU) No. 396/2005 recognizes the importance of evaluating cumulative pesticide effects, current controls are mainly focused on the individual analysis of each compound. Experts warn that the combination of pesticides, the so -called “cocktail effect”, can be harmful than the sum of isolated effects, especially for children and other vulnerable groups.
Other products with high waste levels
Foods with the most presence of pesticides are:
- Sweet peppers: 32 pesticides, including eight unauthorized
- Tangerines: 31 pesticides, with 18 endocrine deregulators
- Oranges: 30 pesticides, 21 endocrine deregulators
Although oranges lead in number of endocrine deregulators, the pears maintain the balance of substances that places them first on the most contaminated fruit list.
According to, the study concludes that Spanish agriculture remains pesticide dependent, and that the presence of prohibited substances, persistent compounds and multiple waste represents a continuous challenge for food security.
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