Study: Nearly 20% of Costa Rican Produce Doesn’t Meet Agrochemical Guidelines

By The Tico Times|19 June 2020

Nearly 65% of fruits and vegetables produced in Costa Rica contain residual traces of agrochemicals, a study from the Pesticide Department of the State Phytosanitary System found, reports The Tico Times. Of the 1,704 locally sourced fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds analyzed by researchers in 2019, 64.2% contained pesticide residue while 19.5% exceeded Costa Rica’s maximum permissible pesticide content, the study said.

“A serious situation is the presence of prohibited molecules in the country found in fresh vegetables; for example, Carbofuran and Ometoato,” Henry Picado, of the Costa Rican Federation for the Conservation of the Environment (FECON), told Semanario Universidad.

While still high, the State Phytosanitary System’s 2019 data show an improvement for Costa Rican produce compared to 2018, when 23.9% of the fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds tested did not meet local regulations.

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