Every year, the Environmental Working Group researches which conventionally grown fruits and vegetables contain the most pesticides. Last year, strawberries were found to be the “dirtiest” produce source, and they remain at the top of this year’s 2024 Dirty Dozen™ list.
EWG’s analysis of tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that over 75 percent of samples of conventionally grown produce were contaminated with potentially harmful pesticides. The USDA researchers found a total of 209 different pesticides and pesticide breakdown products on the thousands of produce samples they analyzed. These pesticide residues remained on fruits and vegetables, even after they were washed, and in some cases, peeled.
What’s So Bad About Pesticide Exposure?
Pesticides take a big toll not only on our health, but the environment, too.
Even though pesticides are sprayed on land, they eventually make their way into nearby water sources like rivers, oceans, lake and ponds. For example, pesticides from an apple orchard may end up in a nearby stream due to runoff. Once a body of water becomes contaminated with chemicals, fish and other animals can get sick and even die. This throws the whole ecosystem off balance.
Pesticides can also affect groundwater by a process known as leeching. Many people who live rurally depend on groundwater for their drinking supply (like those who have wells) – but if that water has pesticides in it, then the people drinking it are putting their health at risk.
In terms of human health, pesticides are harmful to adults, but even more so for children.
Dr. Sonya Lunder, an EWG senior analyst said it’s particularly important to reduce young children’s exposure to pesticides. The pesticide industry and chemical agriculture maintain that pesticides on produce aren’t anything to worry about, but doctors and scientists strongly disagree.
“Even low levels of pesticide exposure can be harmful to infants, babies and young children, so when possible, parents and caregivers should take steps to lower children’s exposure to pesticides while still feeding them diets rich in healthy fruits and vegetables,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health and Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Centre at Mt. Sinai (1).
Dr. Landrigan was principal author of a landmark 1993 National Academy of Sciences study titled “Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children.” The study led to enactment of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act that set safety standards for pesticides on foods.
A more recent study in JAMA International Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association, found a surprising association between consuming high-pesticide-residue foods and fertility problems among participants in the Harvard University EARTH study (2).
The study found that women who ate two or more servings per day of produce with higher pesticide residues were 26 percent less likely to have a successful pregnancy during the study than participants who ate fewer servings of these foods. A previous study of male participants found similar association between consumption of high-residue product and reproductive health (3).
Countless studies have also linked pesticides to cancer (4), Alzheimer’s disease (5), ADHD (6), and even birth defects (7).
Key Findings From the 2024 EWG Pesticide Study
For the 2024 Dirty Dozen list, the EWG singled out produce with the highest loads of pesticide residues. Each of the foods mentioned below tested positive for a number of different pesticide residues and contained higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce.
What they found was that nearly all samples of strawberries, spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for residue of at least one pesticide.
They found the following (8):
- A total of 209 pesticides were found on Dirty Dozen items.
- Across all 12 items, 95 percent of samples had pesticides.
- More than 90% of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines, and grapes tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides.
- 13-23 pesticides in at least one sample of each item.
- More than 50 different pesticides were detected on every type of crop on the list, except cherries.
- The most pesticides were found on kale, collard and mustard greens, with 103 individual chemicals found across the items in the category.
- Hot peppers and bell peppers were next, with 101.
- All of the produce on the Dirty Dozen had at least one sample with at least 13 pesticides — and some had as many as 23.
- Four of the five pesticides found most frequently on the Dirty Dozen are fungicides: fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, boscalid, and pyrimethanil.
- The neurotoxic organophosphate insecticide acephate, prohibited from use on green beans in 2011, was detected on six percent of that crop’s samples.
Comparing this to the EWG’s clean fifteen list, where relatively few pesticide residues were detected. Less than 1 percent of avocado and sweet corn samples showed any detectable pesticides, and more than 80% of pineapples, papayas, asparagus, onions and cabbages had no pesticide residues.
2024 Dirty Dozen List
Here are twelve of the most pesticide-contaminated foods that you should most definitely always buy organic.
1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Grapes
5. Peaches
6. Pears
7. Nectarines
8. Apples
9. Bell Peppers
10. Cherries
11. Blueberries
12. Green Beans
2024 Clean Fifteen List
This list includes produce that you can get away with buying conventional. While sweet corn is on the list, I personally suggest always buying this food organic, as conventional crops are grown from genetically modified seeds.
1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapples
4. Onions
5. Papayas
6. Sweet peas (frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Honeydew Melons
9. Kiwis
10. Cabbage
11. Mushrooms
12. Mangoes
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Watermelon
15. Carrots
I would also like to make note to steer clear of popular tea bag companies whose products contain high levels of pesticides. Same goes for wine companies, using conventionally grown grapes that have high levels of pesticide residues. Always choose organic when you can.
I am surprised you don't mention lettuce since it is very popular
Spinach is in there, but I didn't do the study, the EWG did – other lettuces may not be as high as spinach?