Annual list highlights which fruits, veggies retain most, least pesticides

Annual Dirty Dozen list highlights fruits, veggies with pesticides

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. — The list is out for this year’s Dirty Dozen and turns out, potentially harmful pesticides remain on some of your favorite fruits and veggies, even after washing.

Spinach took the top spot, according to the annual report by Environmental Working Group.

Researchers found spinach holds more pesticide residue by weight than any other type of produce.

Other leafy greens like kale and collard greens came in second, followed by strawberries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, cherries, apples, blackberries, pears, potatoes and blueberries.

The group tested more than 54,000 samples across 47 types of fruits and veggies.

Despite being rinsed, residues of 264 pesticides and their breakdown products were still detected.

While pesticides help protect crops from insects and diseases, many can harm human health, affecting hormones, fertility and increasing the risk of chronic illnesses.

For the first time, the report found over 60% of all Dirty Dozen samples also contain PFAs, which are known as forever chemicals because they can take up to decades or even centuries to completely break down in the environment.

On the flip side, the Clean Fifteen were also named for having the lowest pesticide residues.

They were with pineapple, sweet corn, avocados, papaya, onion, sweet peas, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, watermelon, mangoes, bananas, carrots, mushrooms and kiwi.

These lists aren’t meant to discourage you from eating fruits and vegetables, but rather to help us better understand what may be on our produce so we can make informed decisions at the grocery store.

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Kristi Krueger

Kristi Krueger

Kristi Krueger has built a solid reputation as an award-winning medical reporter and effervescent anchor. She joined Local 10 in August 1993 and currently co-anchors the noon, 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. newscasts.