The invention has the potential to improve everyday health and safety by reducing exposure to pesticides, which have been linked to serious health effects. Despite this, experts stress that washing produce is still one of the best ways to reduce pesticide exposure, and that concerns about pesticides should not deter people from consuming fruits and vegetables. Organic produce is another option, as it contains natural rather than synthetic pesticides.
Key takeaways:
- A 14-year-old, Sirish Subash, invented a handheld device, Pestiscand, that uses AI to detect pesticides on produce.
- The device won the $25,000 grand prize at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
- Pestiscand uses a noninvasive technique called spectrophotometry, which shines a light on a piece of produce and then uses AI to analyze the light that's reflected back to identify what pesticide, if any, is present.
- Despite being in its preliminary stages, the device can accurately identify both the presence of pesticides and which pesticide is present 93% of the time.