(WHDH) — A non-profit organization is urging consumers to be vigilant about what fruits and vegetables they’re putting into their bodies after finding several produce items with high levels of pesticide contamination.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that nearly 70 percent of produce sold in the United States comes with pesticide residues after analyzing more than 40,900 samples of 47 popular fruits and vegetables taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration.
Strawberries were named the most contaminated produce in EWG’s “Dirty Dozen” list for 2019, followed by spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears tomatoes, celery and potatoes.
More than 90 percent of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines, and kale samples reportedly tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides.
The USDA tested kale samples for the first time in almost a decade, finding 18 different pesticides on several samples, according to the study.
Nearly 60 percent of the kale samples reportedly contained the pesticide Dacthal, or DCPA, which was classified as a possible human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1995.
Several fruits and vegetables were found with relatively few pesticides, placing them on EWG’s “Clean 15” list.
Avocados carries the least pesticides, followed by sweet corn, pineapples, frozen sweet peas, onions, papayas, eggplants, asparagus, kiwis, cabbages, cauliflower, cantaloupes, broccoli, mushrooms and honey dew melons.
More than 70 percent of the “Clean 15” produce samples had no pesticide residues, the study found.
EWG warns consumers that washing produce does not remove all pesticides and encourages people to choose organic options for produce that typically contains a high level of pesticide residues.
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