--- title: These 12 Fruits and Vegetables Have the Most Pesticides description: The Environmental Working Group issued its new report on produce and pesticides, and some of your favorites may be on their Dirty Dozen list canonical: https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-10T16:13:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:29.490Z article:section: Health og:title: These 12 Fruits and Vegetables Have the Most Pesticides og:description: Strawberries top the list og:url: https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2423a381709629/69892d39db298793c625f561/strawberries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3124 og:image:height: 1757 og:image:alt: Strawberry og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These 12 Fruits and Vegetables Have the Most Pesticides twitter:description: Strawberries top the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2423a381709629/69892d39db298793c625f561/strawberries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Strawberries Top the 'Dirty Dozen' List of Fruits and Vegetables With the Most Pesticides > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: This Super Simple Household Item Gets Pesticides Off Apples, Study Says [Watch (HLS stream): This Super Simple Household Item Gets Pesticides Off Apples, Study Says](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kk2qNGLm.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2017-10-26. If you "wash" your apples by wiping them on your shirt—or even rinsing them in tap water—a new study suggests a more rigorous way to remove pesticides from your fruit_  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 10, 2018 4:13 PM UTC  huayang—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 10, 2018 4:13 PM UTC In the latest [report about pesticide residues](https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php), the Environmental Working Group says that 70% of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables contain up to 230 different pesticides or their breakdown products. The analysis, based on produce samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found that strawberries and spinach contained the [highest amounts of pesticide residues](https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php). One sample of strawberries, for example, tested positive for 20 different pesticides, and spinach contained nearly twice the pesticide residue by weight than any other fruit or vegetable. The two types of produce topped the EWG ranking of the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest concentrations of pesticides—the so-called “Dirty Dozen.” After strawberries and spinach come nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, potatoes and sweet bell peppers. More than 98% of peaches, cherries and apples contained at least one pesticide. This year’s list nearly [mirrors the one from last year](https://www.ewg.org/release/2017-dirty-dozen-strawberries-spinach-top-ewgs-list-pesticides-produce), suggesting that little has changed in how these crops are grown. (The analysis applied only to produce that wasn’t grown organically.) How dangerous is the exposure to the chemicals? Since federal laws in 1996 mandated that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study and regulate pesticide use for its potential to harm human health, many toxic chemicals have been removed from crop growing. But studies continue to find potential effects of exposure to the pesticides still in use. A recent study, for instance, indicated a possible link between [exposure to pesticides in produce and lower fertility](http://time.com/5000869/pesticide-fruits-vegetables-ivf/). More studies are needed to solidify the relationship between current pesticide exposures from produce and long-term health effects. In the meantime, researchers say that organic produce generally contains fewer pesticide residues, and people concerned about their exposure can also focus on fruits and vegetables that tend to contain fewer pesticides. Here is the EWG’s [list of the fruits and vegetables lowest in pesticide residue](https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean-fifteen.php)—the so-called Clean 15: Avocados Sweet corn Pineapples Cabbage Onions Frozen sweet peas Papayas Asparagus Mangoes Eggplants Honeydews Kiwis Cantaloupes Cauliflower Broccoli ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/"},"headline":"Strawberries Top the 'Dirty Dozen' List of Fruits and Vegetables With the Most Pesticides","datePublished":"2018-04-10T16:13:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:29.490Z","description":"The Environmental Working Group issued its latest report on produce and pesticides, and some of your favorites may be on the organization’s Dirty Dozen list","url":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2423a381709629/69892d39db298793c625f561/strawberries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2423a381709629/69892d39db298793c625f561/strawberries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Strawberry","caption":"Strawberry","creditText":"huayang—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/","name":"Strawberries Top the 'Dirty Dozen' List of Fruits and Vegetables With the Most Pesticides"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Super Simple Household Item Gets Pesticides Off Apples, Study Says","description":"If you \"wash\" your apples by wiping them on your shirt—or even rinsing them in tap water—a new study suggests a more rigorous way to remove pesticides from your fruit","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kk2qNGLm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-26T14:11:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kk2qNGLm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5234787/dirty-dozen-pesticides/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```