Pesticides on some produce linked to increased cancer risk
Sign The Petition
Consumer Reports’ most comprehensive investigation ever of pesticides in produce has found that exposure to two broad classes of chemicals – organophosphates and carbamates – are the most hazardous, linked to an increased risk of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Yet these pesticides are concentrated in a handful of foods – like blueberries, green beans, potatoes, and peppers – that are grown on a small fraction of U.S. farmland, making it easier to develop targeted solutions.
Join us in calling on the EPA to ban organophosphates and carbamates in fruits and vegetables. The vast majority of produce is already grown without hazardous pesticides, and your family should be able to safely eat produce without the threat of these health-damaging chemicals.
Petition to the EPA:
The fruits and vegetables we eat should be the cornerstone of a healthy diet, but a recent analysis by Consumer Reports of pesticides in produce found that 20 percent qualified as high risk or very high risk. Two classes of chemicals, organophosphates and carbamates, were responsible for most of this risk.
We call on the EPA to take immediate action to ban these classes of pesticides from use on fruit and vegetables. Long-term exposure to these pesticides has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurobehavioral issues, with additional health concerns for vulnerable populations like children, pregnant people, those with chronic illnesses, and farm workers.
The vast majority of fruits and vegetables eaten in the U.S. are already grown without hazardous pesticides. It’s time to ban the two classes of pesticides that are posing the greatest health risks.