Peel cucumbers to avoid cancer-causing pesticides, scientists say - but do we really need to?

Peel cucumbers to avoid cancer-causing pesticides, scientists say - but do we really need to? READ MORE: Average Brit goes ONE MONTH without eating fruit study reveals By John Ely Deputy Health Editor For Mailonline Published: 16:22, 7 August 2024 | Updated: 16:22, 7 August 2024 e-mail View comments Washing fruit and veg before eating them is common practice in most British households. But new research suggests that this might not be enough to eliminate potentially harmful pesticides from your produce. Experts at Anhui Agricultural University in China used a highly sensitive film to pick up traces of chemicals that other tests fail to spot.

Tests with apples and cucumbers, as well as other foods like shrimp and rice, found that washing foods did not eliminate traces of pesticides that have been linked to liver cancer . The scientists say their findings offer evidence that washing fruit and veg is insufficient, and suggest peeling foods like apples and cucumbers instead. Ever thought about peeling a cucumber? You may want to consider it according to Chinese scientists who found washing wasn't enough to remove pesticides which could be harmful to human health Writing in the journal Nano Letters , they concluded: 'The risk of pesticide ingestion from fruits cannot be avoided by simple washing other than peeling.

'We believe that the peeling operation can effectively avoid the hazards of pesticides in the fruit’s epidermis [skin] and near-epidermal pulp, thereby reducing the pr.