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Hoots : Is it safe to eat fruit with the skin having cleaned it only with water? For fruits such as peaches and apples, which one might eat with skin, some people argue that water do not wash away some chemicals (i.e. pesticides) - freshhoot.com

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Is it safe to eat fruit with the skin having cleaned it only with water?
For fruits such as peaches and apples, which one might eat with skin, some people argue that water do not wash away some chemicals (i.e. pesticides) that get absorbed by the skin, thus advising to always peel them before eating them.

However, considering that the the skin is rich in nutrients, is it unsafe to just wash the fruit with water (and rubbing it with one's hands) rather than peeling them?


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Your question is hard to give a proper answer.

I think a big (but not complete) answer is already here: How much pesticide remains on a harvested organic fruit?

Anyway, (thanks to) my approach as engineer I can produce another kind, a different answer: a schematic list of statement that you can use to infer an answer by your own:

(Legal) chemicals used in agriculture are safea to human.
Organic fruit will certainly have less chemicals than normal fruitb, so if you worry about chemicals, you should prefer organic fruit and vegetables.
There are different chemicals and each one interact differently with the fruit.

There will be hydrophile („liking water“) molecules and washing your fruit, they will go away.
There will be lipophile („liking fat“) molecules and washing your fruit, they will remain on the fruit, on the peel; an interesting solution is hered.

Part of chemicals stay on the peel, part of chemical are adsorbed inside the fruit, in the fleshc: if you remove physically the peel you will physically remove chemicals in it.

As you see issue is really complex!

a If chemicals used are legal, they have been tested on human.
b consumersunion.org/news/cu-research-team-shows-organic-foods-really-do-have-less-pesticides/ c www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/well/eat/do-pesticides-get-into-the-flesh-of-fruits-and-vegetables.html d www.popsci.com/how-to-actually-remove-pesticides-from-your-fruit


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