Kale joins the ranks of the annual 'Dirty Dozen' pesticide list
Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Strawberries – Strawberries topped the list in 2019 for the fourth year in a row. The most recent report states they are the fresh produce most likely to remain contaminated with pesticide residues, even after being washed. Testing found that the dirtiest one contained 23 separate pesticides residues.
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Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Spinach – Spinach, in the second spot this year, had relatively high concentrations of a potentially brain-damaging neurotoxic insecticide called permethrin. It was detected on 76% of spinach samples.
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Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Kale – Kale, edging out nectarines for third place this year, most commonly tested positive for Dacthal, which is a potential cancer-causing agent. Greater than 92% of the samples of kale tested positive for two or more pesticide residues.
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Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Nectarines – More than 90% of nectarines, strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, and kale samples were positive for two or more pesticide residues. Nectarines are fourth on the list this year.
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Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Apples – Apples ranked fifth. Samples contained 4.4 pesticide residues on average. Apples topped the annual Dirty Dozen list for five consecutive years, ending its reign in 2015. In 2016, they were displaced by strawberries.
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Photos: The 2019 pesticide 'Dirty Dozen' fruits and vegetables
Grapes – Grapes moved down this year from fifth to sixth, according to the report. Since 2004, the Environmental Working Group -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan environmental organization -- annually ranks pesticide contamination in 47 popular fruits and vegetables for its Shopper's Guide.
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