More than 1 million preschoolers eat at least 15 pesticides on a given day. For the 20 million American children ages 1-5, each child eats an average of eight pesticides every day. More than half of these unsafe exposures are from one pesticide, methyl parathion. Ten years after Alar, apples are still loaded with pesticides. More than half the children exposed to an unsafe dose of OP insecticides get it from apples, apple sauce or apple juice.
Some apples are so toxic that just one bite can deliver an unsafe dose of OPs to a child under five.
Since government data show that young children may consume 30 times more apple juice for their body weight than adults, apples remain the most prominent symbol of a regulatory system that fails to protect kids. For the government to follow the law and keep its promise to protect children will mean big reductions in the use of many pesticides and an outright ban on a handful, said Bill Walker, EWG s California director. Like the tobacco companies, the pesticide industry is arguing that absolute proof of harm to children is necessary before any changes in standards. But parents should not have to choose between feeding their kids plenty of fresh produce and exposing them to dangerous pesticides. Food and Drug Administration records show that strawberries, apples, and peaches grown in the United States and cantaloupe from Mexico are the foods most contaminated with pesticides.