In uk.rec.gardening Oz wrote:
: Tim Tyler writes

:Warning people that many pesticides are not safe - and encouraging them
:to eat certified-organic produce - or at the very least wash their fruit.

: Washing has no effect.

Complete nonsense:

"
Rinsing with Tap Water
======================
Although it has been assumed for many years that rinsing fruits and
vegetable prior to consumption reduces the amounts of pesticide residues,
this anecdotal approach needed laboratory confirmation. There are numerous
studies in the scientific literature that have examined the effect of
washing produce to remove pesticide residues as a step in commercial crop
processing. These studies are of little practical use to the consumer who
wants to know what effect household preparation has upon reducing
pesticide residue levels. There are also a handful of studies that examine
the effects of washing as part of larger household preparation studies. In
most cases, however the sample sizes were too small to apply statistical
analysis (1).

In 1997 we initiated a research program whose objective was to examine the
effect that the simple household technique of rinsing with tap water would
have upon reducing pesticide residues in produce. A wide variety of crops
that contained residues were examined.

Residues of DDE, a metabolite of DDT, were also studied. Although many
persistent organohalogen pesticides (POPs), such as DDT, were banned for
use on food crops between 1972 and 1978 in the United States, they have
remained in the environment where they continue to be incorporated into
plant biomass (1).

Data presented in this study show that a short rinse in tap water reduces
pesticide residues on many types of produce (Table 1). Residues of
vinclozolin, bifenthrin and chlorpyrifos were not reduced. This study also
shows that the water solubility of pesticides does not play a significant
role in the observed decrease. The majority of pesticide residue appears
to reside on the surface of produce where it is removed by the mechanical
action of rinsing (1).
"

- http://www.caes.state.ct.us/FactShee...y/fsac003f.htm

Washing with water /is/ an effective method of removing pesticide residues
from the surface of produce.

Of course washing produce is also effective at reducing other forms
of food poisoning - e.g.:
http://outreach.missouri.edu/cmregio...g-produce.html
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/