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strawberries top the 'dirty dozen' list for the seventh year in a row

the 'dirty dozen' list ranks the pesticide content of 46 popular fruit and vegetables after they are washed and peeled.

environmental working group releases 'dirty dozen' list
environmental working group also releases a list of produce with the lowest and highest amount of pesticides residues. getty
yet again, strawberries top this years’ list of the “dirty dozen,” an annual list released by the environmental working group (ewg) that ranks pesticide contamination in popular fruits and veggies.

the ewg’s shopper’s guide to pesticides in produce , first released in 2004, ranks the pesticide content of 46 popular fruit and vegetables even after they are “washed, peeled or scrubbed.” this data is taken from tests carried out by the u.s. department of agriculture and food and drug administration, which tests a subsection of both domestic and imported produce every year.

spinach sits in the second spot as “most contaminated,” followed by kale, collard and mustard greens (ranked together), as well as nectarines and apples. kale, collard and mustard greens showed residues of 103 different pesticides in the usda samples, the most out of any detected according to the ewg. this reportedly included the pesticide dcpa (dacthal), banned by the eu in 2009 for posing a risk of leaching into groundwater. (the canadian government undertook a similar review in 2017, and came to the conclusion there is “no risks of concern” from the three dacthal-containing products approved for use in canada. a maximum yearly use rate was added to the conditions of use for these products.)

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according to the ewg, “the rankings are based not only on the percentage of samples with pesticides but also on the number and amount of pesticides on all samples and on individual samples.”

grapes, bell and hot peppers, cherries, peaches, pears, celery and tomatoes finished off the rest of the dirty dozen, a list that remained virtually unchanged from 2021 .

although the ewg doesn’t recommend forgoing all produce found on the dirty dozen list — its website says the list should be used to inform shoppers about pesticide exposure — research indicates that this list may have the unintended consequence of turning some shoppers off of all kinds of fruits and veggies, “clean” or not.

millennials rejoice — avocados top the “clean 15”

on the opposite end of the spectrum, the ewg also released a list of produce with the lowest amount of pesticides residues. this year, almost 70 per cent of these fruits and vegetable samples had no detectable pesticide residues, according to the report.
avocados were top of the list, followed by sweet corn, pineapple, onions, papaya and frozen sweet peas. the samples from these six items “tested positive for just three or fewer pesticides per sample,” according to the report.
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rounding out the rest of the clean 15 were (in order) asparagus, honeydew melon, kiwi, cabbage, mushrooms, cantaloupe, mangoes, watermelon and sweet potatoes.
because the usda doesn’t test every vegetable every year, the ewg determined that available data was no longer reliable for several vegetables that made the 2021 list. broccoli, cauliflower and eggplant were removed, making room for mangoes, watermelon and sweet potatoes as new additions.

‘dirty dozen’ controversy

the environmental working group’s close financial ties to various organic producers, opposition to genetically modified produce and methods of ranking pesticide exposure has earned the group some criticism.

the ewg lists various “corporate partners for general support and events” on their website, many of which are primarily organic food producers. the ewg also has a shared service agreement with the organic voices action fund (ovaf) with the aim to “highlight the benefits of organic food and advance the fight for labelling food that contains genetically engineered ingredients.”

iris myers, an ewg spokesperson reportedly said that companies are not allowed to sponsor the shopper’s guide and dirty dozen rankings, according to webmd . this undertaking, she said, is funded through grants and individual donors.

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previously, the ewg’s ranking system was based on the presence of pesticides and did not include the concentration or amount of pesticides found on the crop. however, this is included in modern rankings, with the “ average amount of pesticides found , in parts per million” being ranked alongside other factors like the “total number of pesticides found on the crop” and “per cent of samples with two or more detectable pesticides.”

the group notes they do not factor in tolerance levels as approved by the u.s. environmental protection agency, and weighs all pesticides equally. this is done to “capture the uncertainty” around pesticides as “research constantly provides new insights into the threats pesticides pose to human and environmental health.”

emma jones is a multimedia editor with healthing. you can reach her at emjones@postmedia.com or on twitter @jonesyjourn.
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