Analysts have raised the alarm about potentially harmful pesticides linked to cancer and infertility that are found in fruit like satsumas and oranges imported into Britain.
Campaign group Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) used Government testing data to show 46 pesticides with links to cancer had been detected on produce imports to Britain as of the end of last year.
This was more than double the 19 such pesticides found in British produce.
Similar results were found for pesticides linked to fertility and damage to the nervous system, with twice and thrice as many such chemicals found on imports compared to British fare.
By food group, ‘soft citrus’ — which includes satsumas, tangerines and clementines — had the highest change of having a cocktail of multiple pesticides present, with 96 per cent of samples tested returning positive.
This was followed by oranges and lemons which had multiple pesticides detected in in 95 and 89 per cent of samples.
All three types of fruit contained as many as nine different pesticides — and all of these samples were imported from South Africa.
For individual fruits, grapes from Lebanon that had the most pesticides of any item, with 13 substances detected on one sample analysed.
Analysts have raised the alarm on potentially harmful pesticides, some linked to cancer and infertilely, being found on produce imported into Britain. Stock image
Beans from India were also found to have high levels of pesticide residue that exceeded the UK’s legal limit — detected in 10 out of 25 samples tested.
Overall, 31 per cent of British goods were found to contain multiple pesticides but this rose to 55 per cent in imports.
Nick Mole from PAN UK said, ‘While the results for UK produce are also concerning, when it comes to pesticides that pose a risk to consumer health, imports tend to be far worse than food grown here in the UK.
‘With rates of diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s on the rise, we should be doing everything we can to reduce our chemical exposure.
‘But the UK government is allowing larger amounts of chemicals to appear in an ever-growing list of common food items. They urgently need to reverse this current trend.’
PAN UK has been campaigning for an overhaul of British pesticide testing.
Current rules set the safe limits for pesticides on a per chemical basis, meaning in practice that a fruit with a total of 13 chemicals on it is deemed just as safe another with just two chemicals provided all are below the limit.
Previous research has suggested expose to agricultural pesticides could be as bad as tobacco smoke for increasing the risk of certain cancers
PAN UK argues this approach ignores concerns over the combined and accumulative effect of eating such substances in terms of our health in the long-term.
The group also warned that more heavily pesticide-laden foods could be making their way to British supermarket shelves soon.
They highlighted how the UK is in the midst of negotiating a trade deal with India which means food imports from the country, which has laxer rules on pesticide use than Britain, could increase.
Mr Mole said: ‘We’ve long been concerned that new trade deals signed by the UK since EU exit pose a major risk to the health of British consumers.
‘This is especially true when it comes to countries like India that struggle with high pesticide residues in their food exports.
‘Given that today’s findings are based on imports that have already made it past our borders, we strongly urge the government to take action to protect British consumers.’
The Government testing data analysed by PAN UK also found foreign food imports had double the amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals, which can interfere with the body’s hormone system, compared to British produce.
The same was true for per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, also known as forever chemicals due to how they persist in the environment, which have also been linked to issues like cancers, birth defects, immune system problems and infertility.
Pesticides, and their potential role in rising cancer cases, have been an issue of concern for years.
Some experts have blamed them for a surge in bowel cancers among young people, whilst others have pointed to potentially triggering prostate cancer.
