Next on the list is beef, then potatoes. The remaining most common foods, in order of estimated hazard, are oranges, lettuce, apples, peaches, pork, wheat, soybeans, beans, carrots, chicken, corn, and grapes. Remember, these are cancer hazards posed only by pesticide residues. This does not take into account the large number of steroid hormones, antibiotics, and ingested contaminants associated with livestock production. Organic produce is not available to most of us.
Consumer groups advocate washing conventionally-grown produce with soapy water before eating it.
There is not much that can be done about chemical contamination of animal products. Modern farming and food production methods put more than our personal health at risk. 141 Intensive fertilization, plowing, and single-crop farming depletes soil nutrients and the volume of topsoils. Agrichemicals now pollute our aquifers, the underground lakes which supply water to many communities. Topsoil, the rich, relatively loose earth which supplies the nutrient and growth medium for our food crops, is being depleted at a rapid rate.