2026 'Dirty Dozen' Produce: Nearly 100% Tested Positive for Pesticides, Incl Forever Chemicals, EWG Report 🍅

Last edited Thu Mar 26, 2026, 07:30 PM - Edit history (1)

- '2026 ‘Dirty Dozen’ Produce: Nearly 100% Tested Positive for Pesticides, Including ' Forever Chemicals,’ CNN Health, March 24, 2026. - Edit.
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🎥 Watch: Video, Researchers say some produce carries more pesticides than others. Here are 3 things to know. (3 min).
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🍇 🍓 Leafy greens such as spinach and perennial kid favorites such as strawberries and grapes held the highest levels of potentially harmful pesticide residues based on government tests, according to the 2026 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Nectarines, peaches, cherries, apples, blackberries, pears, potatoes and blueberries filled out this year’s “Dirty Dozen” most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables, according to the report released Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a health advocacy organization.

- EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce: THE DIRTY DOZEN 🫒
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php

Spinach, which holds the top spot, had more pesticide residue by weight than any other type of produce and contained, on average, four or more different types of pesticides, according to EWG, which has published the annual report since 2004. Samples of every produce type averaged four or more pesticides, except for potatoes, which averaged two. Consuming produce with multiple pesticides is concerning, experts say, because exposure to mixtures of pesticides may accumulate and raise risk.

To do the report, EWG examined the most recent pesticide residue tests conducted by the US Department of Agriculture on 54,344 samples of 47 fruits and vegetables. Before the USDA examines each sample, the fruit or vegetable is peeled or scrubbed and thoroughly washed to mimic consumer behavior at home.
- Even after taking those steps, testing found traces of 264 pesticides — of those, 203 appeared on Dirty Dozen produce.

- Health Impacts of Pesticides: Pesticides have been potentially linked in past studies to premature births, congenital malformations such as neural tube defects, spontaneous abortions and an increase in genetic damage in humans. Exposure to pesticides has also been associated with lower sperm concentrations, heart disease, cancer and other disorders. Children are especially susceptible to contaminants such as pesticides, even while in the womb, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Pesticide exposure during pregnancy may lead to an increased risk of birth defects, low birth weight and fetal death,” according to the AAP.

“Exposure in childhood has been linked to attention and learning problems, as well as cancer.”...
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/24/health/2026-dirty-dozen-pesticide-produce-wellness