Does Rinsing Fruit and Vegetables Actually Do Anything?

We caught up with some experts to see if the ten-second faucet splash matters

Before I bite into an apple, I always run it under a faucet for an arbitrary stretch of time. If I had to put a number on it, I’d call it seven seconds. That goes for grapes, peaches, cucumbers and carrots, too. At this point it’s more or less a subconscious ritual; they all get the shower and pat down treatment, then I move on with my day.

Last week, it occurred to me that I have no clue what this process is actually accomplishing. Am I scrubbing away dirt? Chemicals? Is the whole operation nullified by the fact that I rarely wash my hands before washing the fruit? And how about the length of time? Is a quick spritz really effective against whatever I’m trying to get off my fruit? Should I be using more water or paper towels? Would that be wasteful for the environment?