The Spanish population is subjected to extensive exposure to pesticides through food. 46% of the foods analyzed in the official program show residues of at least one pesticide, a percentage that reaches 69.5% in the case of fruits and 38% in vegetables.
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This is indicated by a study based on official data prepared by Ecologistas en Acción.
An example of this exposure is represented by a sample of grapes, in which 14 different pesticides were detected. In total, 47 different pesticides have been detected in table grapes in the 70 samples analyzed by the control program of the Spanish Food Safety Agency (Aesan) published this year.
But the high multiple contamination of that grape sample is not an isolated case. The so-called cocktail effect occurs in 32% of the foods analyzed, with extreme cases, such as eight samples with more than 10 substances each.
In table grapes, 47 different pesticides have been detected in the 70 samples analyzed
In the ranking of foods in which the highest number of pesticides has been detected, sweet peppers (37 pesticides), oranges (33), tomatoes (31), melon (25), apples and pears (20), mandarins (19), eggplants and peaches (18) also stand out.
The sector showing the highest presence of pesticides is the group formed by tea, coffee, infusions, and cocoa (77% of the samples). It is also notable in dry legumes (10.5%), fish (14.3%), processed products (18%), and cereals (23%). In the case of spices, the rate reaches 60%, while water, infant foods, and seeds show no residues.))
A total of 59 pesticides corresponded to substances not authorized in the EU
A total of 2,235 samples were analyzed, 1,811 carried out by the autonomous communities and the rest in border controls.
In total, in Spain – according to the results of these samples – 127 different pesticides have been used whose trace has remained in the foods sold in 2024.
Another notable fact is that 59 pesticides corresponded to substances not authorized in the EU.
This circumstance occurs due to the existence of a black market for unauthorized pesticides (frequent seizures occur), due to historical contamination by toxins that appear after years of use, or due to entry through the border of undetected products. Other times it is due to authorized legal exceptions, which are allowed if certain maximum limits are not exceeded, or because it is tolerated when it comes to imported foods if a maximum residue limit is met to satisfy international trade needs.
For this reason, and in any case, the authors of the study recommend consuming local foods, since, according to these data, they are contaminated by pesticides: affecting 39% of the samples compared to 72% of imported foods.
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“The European Union and local authorities must improve border surveillance, prevent the entry and use of banned pesticides, and not use tolerances for pesticide imports,” says Koldo Hernández, coordinator of the toxic area of Ecologistas en Acción.
Response from the Ministry of Agriculture
99% comply with regulations: “There is strict control”
99% of the foods sampled and analyzed in 2024 “comply with regulations,” says a report from the Ministry of Social Rights and Consumption, which coordinates the control program. Only 17 of the 1,811 controls detected levels above the legal limit (12 in the fruit and vegetable category and 5 in the beverage category). “There are strict controls to ensure that the foods we consume comply with health regulations,” says the Ministry of Agriculture in response to questions from this newspaper. “It is necessary to differentiate between the presence of phytosanitary products and exceeding limits. For this, there are MRLs (maximum residue limits). A food is withdrawn from the market based on certain MRL percentages of phytosanitary products set, so if they are not exceeded, they can be marketed according to community regulations,” adds the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the FAO, an MRL is the maximum level of pesticide residues legally allowed in food or feed (both inside and on the surface) when pesticides are applied correctly according to good agricultural practices, the Ministry recalls.
On the other hand, in recent years “controls at the border regarding imported products have increased.”
The most concerning
Experts are especially concerned about the presence of 48 pesticides that are endocrine disruptors (which can alter metabolism and affect the hormonal system), and the 14 PFAS, the ‘forever pesticides,’ so called because of their persistence and their relation to serious health problems.
“Authorities must no longer continue, as until now, without taking into account combined effects to authorize substances and establish the maximum amount of a pesticide allowed in each food,” says Koldo Hernández.
The pesticide detected in the greatest number of samples was the fungicide imazalil, a product applied to citrus fruits and which can be seen on the label of oranges, lemons, or mandarins in bags, as well as on apples, pears, bananas, and other vegetables to maintain them during distribution. Imazalil, detected in 15% of foods for sale in 2024, is an endocrine disruptor and also causes environmental damage due to its acute and chronic toxicity in birds, fish, invertebrates, including bees and earthworms.
It is also recalled that scientific evidence links PFAS to health damage even at low concentrations, such as damage to the immune system, endocrine system, development, and cancer. It has been proposed that the Chemical Substances Agency analyze their possible reprotoxic character. But pesticides are not included. “The ban on PFAS pesticides should be included within the universal PFAS ban at the European level to curb population exposure and protect health, including that of the most vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, babies, and children,” says Hernández.
The report adds that 17% of foods in 2024 were contaminated by 13 pesticides that could obtain unlimited approval if the Omnibus Food and Feed law proposal presented at the end of 2025 by the European Commission and currently under debate is approved.
Various European and Spanish organizations are collecting signatures against this proposal.
Combined effects
The report indicates that combined exposure to several substances “forms a toxic cocktail, with unknown and dangerous effects on health.” “Scientific studies warn of the high risk of chronic exposure to several substances at once,” it states. The possible effects of this mixture are not currently taken into account when calculating the amount of pesticide allowed in each food, although Regulation 396/2005 on Maximum Residue Limits itself indicates that “it is important to continue working” to develop a methodology “taking into account people’s exposure to combinations of active substances and their cumulative and possibly global and synergistic effects on human health.”
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