Expert Review: Temkin et al (2025) Pesticide Residue Study
The Alliance for Food and Farming worked with the scientific consulting firm, Exponent, to assemble experts to review the study titled “A cumulative dietary pesticide exposure score based on produce consumption is associated with urinary pesticide biomarkers in a U.S. biomonitoring cohort” (Temkin et al., 2025). This reflects the AFF’s standard procedure to seek out scientific expertise in risk analysis, toxicology and nutrition to learn more when a study is released concerning produce safety.
In addition to Exponent scientists, experts included Dr. Carl Winter, a Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Technology at University of California, Davis, and Dr. Joan Salge Blake, a Clinical Professor of Nutrition at Boston University. Their analysis of Temkin et al (2025) determined the following:
Utilizing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES), the study alleges that produce consumption weighted by pesticide contamination is associated with higher levels of urinary pesticide metabolites, after excluding potatoes.
However, Temkin et al. (2025) did not find a statistically significant association, except for an analysis that excludes one type of produce: potatoes. The study mentions the importance of utilizing pesticide toxicity values to assess health risk is mentioned, yet a risk assessment is not carried out, despite containing all the necessary data.
The review identified several errors made in the selection of representative food codes using NHANES and using older survey data. Despite the singular association between dietary pesticide exposure score and higher pesticide load when excluding one of the 43 produce types, the study concludes that consumption of produce may lead to higher urinary pesticide metabolite levels and should be used to inform future research and tools for consumers. The data provided in the publication does not support this conclusion and, in fact, refutes it
Temkin et al. (2025) is not justified in asserting that dietary pesticide exposure scores are associated with urinary pesticide metabolite levels, given that the findings contradict this conclusion. The analyses contained flaws including, but not limited to, removing an unjustified singular type of produce out of 43 types and including irrelevant foods to assess dietary consumption. The methodology utilized to develop the dietary pesticide exposure score and support the alleged conclusion should not be applied to assess impact on health outcomes, to inform future research, or to educate consumers, as the study does not meaningfully add to the scientific literature.
