Potato in 'dirty dozen' vegetables with high pesticide residue

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on public health, scoured nearly 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what fruits and vegetables we eat have the highest, and lowest, amounts of chemical residue.

Most alarming are the fruits and vegetables dubbed the "Dirty Dozen,"which contain 47 to 67 pesticides per serving. These foods are believed to be most susceptible because they have soft skin that tends to absorb more pesticides.

"It's critical people know what they are consuming,"the Environmental Working Group's Amy Rosenthal said. "The list is based on pesticide tests conducted after the produce was washed with USDA high-power pressure water system. The numbers reflect the closest thing to what consumers are buying at the store."

The group suggests limiting consumption of pesticides by purchasing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables.
"You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by up to 80 percent by buying the organic version of the Dirty Dozen,"Rosenthal said.

The Dirty Dozen according to EWG

1.Celery
2.Peaches
3.Strawberries
4.Apples
5.Domestic blueberries
6.Nectarines
7.Sweet bell peppers
8.Spinach
9.Kale and collard greens
10.Cherries
11.Potatoes
12.Imported grapes
CNN also includes Lettuce in the top 12 by combining 8 and 9

Although the President's Cancer Panel recently recommended that consumers eat produce without pesticides to reduce their risk of getting cancer and other diseases, the low levels of pesticides found on even the Dirty Dozen are government-approved amounts.

The classification is not built on a complex assessment of pesticide risks but instead reflects the overall pesticide loads of common fruits and vegetables. More on methodology