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Dear John

Concerned about pesticide residues in your food?

The Dirty Dozen ([link removed]) is based on PAN UK’s analysis of the UK government’s pesticide residue testing programme and reveals the produce most likely to contain cocktails of multiple pesticides (i.e. residues of more than one pesticide). The list is based on results from 2024 - the most recent year for which data is available.

We found that a quarter of vegetables and three-quarters of fruit contain multiple pesticides. 123 different chemicals were found in the 17 types of fruit and vegetable tested. They include 42 pesticides with links to cancer and 21 known to interfere with hormone systems, potentially leading to birth defects, developmental disorders and reproductive problems. Grapes were one of the worst offenders with one single sample containing residues of 16 different pesticides.
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VIEW THE DIRTY DOZEN ([link removed])

The most common Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) detected were two fungicides – imazalil and thiabendazole. Each appeared in 9% of samples (131 out of 1,494) of mostly fruit, including grapefruit, bananas and melons. Fungicides are used to control fungus and mould, often while produce is being stored or transported. Both imazalil and thiabendazole are suspected endocrine disruptors with possible links to cancer.

29% of the pesticides detected are not approved for use by British farmers, often because of the harms they cause to health or environment. However, these chemicals end up in UK food regardless, because growers in non-EU countries use them on crops that are then exported to the UK. The government’s own expert body has repeatedly highlighted how this arrangement disadvantages British farmers.

We also analysed the UK government’s testing results for bread. Chlormequat – a plant growth regulator classified as a developmental toxin – was found in 97% of samples. Glyphosate – the UK’s most widely used herbicide linked repeatedly to various cancers and other chronic diseases – appeared in more than a quarter (28%) of bread samples. Almost half (47%) of the 216 samples of bread tested by the government contained pesticide cocktails ([link removed]) .
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Safety limits are set for one pesticide at a time, completely ignoring the fact that it’s all too common for food to contain multiple chemicals. The truth is we know very little about how these chemicals interact with each other, or what this exposure to hundreds of different pesticides is doing to our health in the long-term. What we do know is that pesticides can become more toxic when combined, a phenomenon known as ‘the cocktail effect’ ([link removed]) .

Given how high the stakes are, the government should be doing everything it can to get pesticides out of our food.
VIEW THE DIRTY DOZEN ([link removed])

We hope that you find our new guide useful and ask that you please consider donating ([link removed]) to support our ongoing endeavour to detoxify the UK for a healthier and more sustainable future. We are the only UK charity focused on tackling the problems caused by pesticides and endlessly struggle to raise funds. We're small and dynamic and with support from people like you we're able to have lasting impact!

And if you have already donated, thank you!
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In solidarity,

the team at PAN UK
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