Here’s a list provided by the Environmental Working Group of the most to least contaminated of 47 popular fruits and vegetables. The “scores” are calibrated off of the worst offender, peaches. If money is an object, use that money to buy organic versions of the worst offenders and buy conventional produce for the rest. Just remember to wash carefully, and/or peel produce as needed.

The scores given are a composite of numbers and amounts of pesticides found in the studies. The “worst”, peaches, was given a score of 100, and the others were calibrated from that. The fruits and vegetables were washed or peeled as most people use the produce – for example, apples were washed, bananas and oranges peeled. More information about this work is available at from the Environmental Working Group.

Pesticides on Popular Produce

1. (worst) Peaches – 100
2. Apples – 93
3. Sweet Bell Peppers – 83
4. Celery – 82
5. Nectarines – 81
6. Strawberries – 80
7. Cherries – 73
8. Kale – 69
9. Lettuce – 67
10. Grapes – Imported from outside U.S. – 66
11. Carrots – 63
12. Pears – 63
13. Collard Greens – 60
14. Spinach – 58
15. Potatoes – 56
16. Green Beans – 53
17. Summer Squash – 53
18. Hot Peppers – 51
19. Cucumbers – 50
20. Raspberries – 46
21. Grapes – U.S. grown – 44
22. Plums – 44
23. Oranges – 44
24. Cauliflower – 39
25. Tangerines – 37
26. Mushrooms – 36
27. Bananas – 34
28. Winter Squash – 34
29. Cantaloupe – 33
30. Cranberries – 33
31. Honeydew Melon – 30
32. Grapefruit – 29
33. Sweet Potato – 29
34. Tomatoes – 29
35. Broccoli – 28
36. Watermelon – 26
37. Papaya – 20
38. Eggplant – 20
39. Cabbage – 17
40. Kiwi – 13
41. Sweet Peas (frozen) – 10
42. Asparagus – 10
43. Mango – 9
44. Pineapple – 7
45. Sweet Corn (frozen) – 2
46. Avocado – 1
47. Onions – 1

Download the guide here as an iPhone app, or a PDF file.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 10th, 2010 at 3:10 am and is filed under Articles - Ten Steps and THM Basics, Budget & Finance, Chemicals, Additives & Preservatives, Green living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.