by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola:
Story at-a-glance
- About 28.6 million U.S. students rely on school lunches. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) claims these are among the most nutritious meals, the quality has been steadily declining
- Testing conducted by Spotlight on America revealed alarming amounts of heavy metals and almost 50 different pesticides in school lunches, with one meal containing 38 different pesticides
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- Lab results uncovered banned pesticides like carbendazim, along with glyphosate and harmful heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium in school meal samples
- Children are particularly vulnerable to low-level chemical exposure, as pesticides and heavy metals cause permanent neurological damage, developmental issues and increased disease risk
- Protect your child by packing homemade lunches, advocating for healthier school meals and supporting initiatives like Garden to Cafeteria that promote fresher, more nutritious food options
Every day, about 28.6 million students in the United States are served school lunches, according to the School Nutrition Association.1 For many children, these meals are a key source of nutrition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) even claims that school-provided lunches are among the healthiest meals children eat.2
However, the quality of school lunches has actually been deteriorating for decades. While standards for calories, sodium and added sugars are in place, little is known about the other substances in school lunches beyond these guidelines. A recent investigation3 by Spotlight on America uncovered hidden dangers in these lunches that are putting children’s health at risk — namely, heavy metals and pesticides.
Shocking Cocktail of Pesticides and Heavy Metals Found in America’s School Lunches
Spotlight on America4 tested school lunches from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland to identify substances and ingredients that are not listed on the label. They sent the samples to Health Research Institute (HRI), an accredited laboratory in Iowa, wherein the researchers analyzed common cafeteria fare including breadsticks, pizza, potatoes and fruit under the supervision of Dr. John Fagan, the lab’s CEO and Chief Scientific Officer.
“To make the invisible, visible,” said Dr. Fagan, explaining the mission behind testing school lunches. “To me it’s counterintuitive that anybody would say, ‘Let’s put poisons on our food,’ but that’s the way our food system is today.”
The laboratory findings5 revealed a disturbing reality about what children consume daily in school cafeterias. Nearly 50 different pesticides were identified across the samples, with dozens of chemicals often present in single meals. Notably, one elementary school lunch contained 38 distinct pesticides, while a single cup of strawberries contained 23 different pesticides.
Among the identified pesticides was carbendazim, a fungicide banned in the U.S., most European countries, Brazil and Australia due to its associations with cancer, infertility and birth defects, present in nearly half of the tested samples. Additionally, glyphosate, the active ingredient Round-Up that’s linked to cancer, diabetes and heart problems, was found in multiple samples, especially in wheat-based products like bread.
Their test also revealed the presence of dicamba and 2,4D in several lunch samples; these are weed killers associated with increased risk of certain types of cancer. The full list of detected pesticides is available in Spotlight on America’s report.6
Beyond pesticides, their findings showed concerning levels of heavy metals in these school meals. These include cadmium, a known carcinogen, at levels 12 times higher than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) limit for bottled water. Arsenic in rice samples also measured six times above the allowable limit for apple juice. Most alarming was the detection of lead, a neurotoxin with no safe exposure level, in every single sample tested.
Epidemiologist Dr. Melissa Perry, Dean of the George Mason University School of Public Health, reviewed the results and expressed concerns about the implications. “50 pesticides in school lunches, it’s not okay,” she said in Spotlight on America’s report. “It demonstrates that our regulatory system is not succeeding in ensuring that the food that children eat are free from chemical burden.”
Low-Level Exposure to Pesticides Is Still Harmful to Children
Spotlight on America noted7 that most of their test results were within the limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, this does not imply the levels are harmless, especially for children, whose developing brains and bodies are far more sensitive to even minimal chemical exposure. According to Dr. Perry:8
“The variety and the volume of chemicals that are being introduced in the market every year makes it practically impossible to evaluate the health effects of each and every chemical. We don’t know what it means to be exposed over time at low levels continuously, especially for developing children.”
According to the Developmental Origin of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept, exposure to pesticides during key stages of brain development causes lasting damage to brain structure and function, increasing the risk of various chronic diseases later in life.9
Of particular concern are the neurotoxic insecticides known as “neonics,” which were introduced in the 1990s and are now the most widely used insecticides in the United States. These compounds were found in six of the school lunch samples tested. As Dr. Perry explains, these insecticides are specifically designed to be neurologically active, targeting processes crucial to brain development.10
The emergence of unexplained neurological conditions in younger populations may serve as an early warning of these effects. In New Brunswick, Canada, neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero has documented 430 patients with unexplained neurological conditions, including 111 patients under age 45. When tested, 90% of these patients showed elevated blood levels of glyphosate, with one sample reaching 15,000 times above the detection limit.11
According to a comprehensive 2020 review,12 glyphosate is known to cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger inflammation implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. The herbicide has also been linked to various neurological effects, including elevated risk of autism from childhood exposures. Animal studies have demonstrated additional concerns, showing that exposure leads to anxiety, impaired working memory, decreased curiosity and reduced movement.13
