Baking soda is one of the most versatile kitchen ingredients which has been used both for cooking and cleaning. Due to its extremely powerful properties, it has been used as a natural remedy for numerous health issues as well.

However, the latest research suggests that this ingredient can eliminate 96% of pesticides from your veggies and fruits.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pesticides are used to control weeds, pests, insect infestations, and disease carriers such as mice, ticks, mosquitoes, and rats. Therefore, numerous studies have investigated the effects of pesticides on human health and eventually discovered that there is a link between pesticides and the following chronic diseases:

  • Asthma
  • Diabetes
  • COPD
  • Neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease)
  • Cancer
  • Reproductive disorders

A study conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts has shown that baking soda can effectively remove pesticides from fruits and vegetables. Namely, they used gala apples to test their cleaning efficacy.

They applied two most commonly used pesticides to the organic gala apples – phosmet and thiabendazole.

Phosmet is an insecticide while thiabendazole is a fungicide that can penetrate apple peels.

The scientists washed the contaminated apples with 3 different solutions – 1% baking soda, tap water, and a bleach solution approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

They soaked apples in each of these three solutions for two minutes. The results have shown that baking soda removed more pesticides than the tap water and the bleach solution but it took about 15 minutes to remove the pesticides completely.

Taking this into consideration, you can use baking soda to wash pesticide residue from hard-skinned veggies and fruits. It will provide an effective and friendly wash due to its alkaline properties. Add several tablespoons to a bowl of water and soak your veggies and fruits. Afterward, rinse them with water.

You can also prepare a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar. Pour ½ glass of water into a pan and add 1 glass of white vinegar and a tablespoon of baking soda. Transfer the solution into a spray bottle and use it for cleaning your veggies and fruits.

It is also recommendable to mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of baking soda diluted in a cup of water. Soak your veggies and fruits in this solution and let them stay for a couple of minutes. Then, rinse them with water.