A nonprofit advocacy group from Washington D.C., Environmental Working Group, released its yearly analysis on which fruits and vegetables are “dirty vs clean” when it comes to the average amount of pesticides each holds on Thursday.
The lists are created from data that is released by the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. Environmental Working Group specializes in research in areas surrounding agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, and drinking water pollutants.
The report concluded that for 2022 the “Dirty Dozen” list from worst to least bad consists of strawberries, spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, nectarines, apples, grapes, bell/hot peppers, cherries, peaches, pears, celery and tomatoes.
The food with the least amount of pesticides, which are part of the “Clean Fifteen” list according to the report, consists of avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, onions, papaya, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, honeydew melon, kiwi, cabbage, mushrooms, cantaloupe, mangoes, watermelon and sweet potatoes.
The produce that is leafier and fleshier seemed to hold the pesticides more. Strawberries and leafy greens have been at the top of the list for the past two years. The report also showed that a single sample of kale, collard and mustard greens had up to 21 different pesticides.
The report concluded that 90% of strawberry, apple, cherry, spinach, nectarine and grape samples have residues of two or more pesticides.