What You Need to Know About The "Dirty Dozen"

You want to stock your pantry with healthy foods, but what you see isn’t always what you get. Some of those “healthy” fruits and vegetables you want in your diet are riddled with dangerous pesticides. Should you go organic? Or should you consider skipping these “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables?

Each year, a “dirty dozen” list of fruits and vegetables reveals those that test the highest for pesticides. The most contaminated are strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples and grapes, followed by peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes. Some tested positive for over 20 distinct pesticides, and some have residues of known carcinogens and neurotoxins. Millions of people buy organic to protect themselves from dirty produce.

Read on for more important information about the “dirty dozen...”

Yearly Report

Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reviews the USDA’s reporting of pesticides detected in our fruits and vegetables. The group looks at the number of pesticides found on each food, as well as the amount of residue each carries, then compiles a list of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) collects 600 samples of each chosen food item, which can vary by the year.

The AMS chooses which foods to test based on popularity, how likely each is to be consumed by children and when it was last tested. It tests fruits and vegetables for 2 years to ensure accurate readings, but then may not test those same items again for another 5 years due to the large rotation. This means some foods that didn’t make the list may not have been included in the most recent round of testing.

The “Dirty Dozen”

The very worst of the worst make the EWG’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list. This year’s assessment, starting with the most highly contaminated, lists strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples and grapes at the very top. Following those are peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes.

The Worst of the Worst

According to the EWG, strawberries average 7.8 distinct pesticide residues, about 4 times the number found on most other produce items. The most contaminated tested positive for 23 different pesticide products. Strawberries are likely to carry high pesticide content even after thorough washing, so unless you can buy organic, you may want to skip them altogether.

Spinach comes in at a close second to strawberries, with an average of 7.1 different pesticides, the dirtiest carrying residue from 19 products. Over 75% of the samples tested positive for permethrin, a known neurotoxin that’s been banned in Europe since 2000. Spinach also absorbs residual DDT from the soil, so even though the poison has been banned for decades, many samples still test positive for it.

Thrusting itself onto the list with a bang, kale tested positive for an average of 5.6 pesticides, with some samples containing up to 18. Most concerning is a chemical called DCPA, sold under the brand name Dacthal. This herbicide has been classified as a possible carcinogen to humans, and it’s been banned in Europe since 2009. Testing showed 60% of kale samples contained Dacthal residue.

Most commercially grown foods contain at least one pesticide, but you can limit your exposure by buying organic whenever possible. You may have to pay a little more, but it’s worth it to be sure you’re not getting a side of neurotoxins or carcinogens with dinner. After all, no matter how many antioxidants and vitamins your fruits and veggies contain, they’re not healthy if they’ve been coated in poisons.

~ Here’s to Your Health and Wellness