如何清洗蔬菜水果能最有效减少农药残留
Good old tap water will go a long way toward washing pesticide residues off your fruit and vegetables, but “getting it down to zero is not feasible, ever,” said Dave Stone, a toxicologist who is the director of theNational Pesticide Information Center, a cooperative effort between Oregon State University and the Environmental Protection Agency. While washing can reduce pesticide residues on the surface, it cannot eliminate pesticides that are absorbed by the roots into the very tissue of the fruit or vegetable.
美国国家农药信息中心（National Pesticide Information Center，由俄勒冈州立大学[Oregon State University]和美国国家环境保护局[Environmental Protection Agency]合作建立）主任、毒理学家戴夫·斯通(Dave Stone)表示，使用质量较好的普通自来水洗涤蔬菜和水果对清除其上的残留农药大有助益，但“要想把它们洗得一点不剩是不可能的”。虽然清洗可以减少蔬果表面的农药残留，但这样做并无法清除被根部吸收进入到蔬菜或水果内部组织中的农药。
Scrubbing with a vegetable brush helps, Dr. Stone said, but using a store-bought veggie wash might not: A 2000 study by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station found that rinsing lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes under tap water for 60 seconds worked just as well as using a commercial vegetable wash to significantly reduce pesticide residues. Using a veggie wash might even backfire, Dr. Stone said, because detergent residue could be added to fruits with porous outer layers.
斯通博士还说，使用蔬菜清洁刷来刷洗蔬果也有一定的帮助，但使用从商店买来的蔬果清洗剂却可能没有这样的效果：2000年康涅狄格州农业试验站(Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station)的一项研究发现，在自来水下清洗生菜、草莓和西红柿60秒与使用市售蔬果清洗剂一样可以有效地显著减少农药残留。斯通博士说，使用蔬果清洗剂甚至还可能适得其反，因为洗涤剂有可能会残留在水果多孔的外层中。
The best way to wash is to place the fruit or vegetable in a colander and run water over it, rather than just dunk it in a bowl. “The force of the running water will drive off residues,” Dr. Stone said. Peeling also helps get rid of pesticide residues in the skin.
清洗蔬菜或水果的最佳方法是将它们放在滤器里用流水冲洗，而不是简单地将它们泡在盆子里。“流水的力量可以冲掉农药残留，”斯通博士说。削皮也有助于去除蔬果外皮上的农药残留。
The Environmental Working Group’s so-called Dirty Dozen and the Consumer Reports Always Buy Organic list, both of which are based on data from the federal Department of Agriculture, which tests fruits and vegetables after they have been washed, include items deemed to have relatively higher pesticide loads. Both lists include strawberries, nectarines and American-grown apples. If you’re considering buying organic, you might put these items at the top of your list.
美国农业部(Department of Agriculture)对经过清洗的蔬菜和水果（包括被认为带有较多农药的品种）进行了检测，在这些数据的基础上，美国环境工作组(Environmental Working Group)提出了“12种受污染食品(Dirty Dozen)”，《消费者报告》(Consumer Reports)也列出了若干种“必选买有机产品(Always Buy Organic)”的食品。草莓、油桃和美国出产的苹果均同时名列上述两份“黑名单”之中。如果你考虑购买有机食品，不妨把这几样放在购物清单的首要位置。
