Produce pesticides: Report details the cleanest and dirtiest fruits, vegetables

FILE - Produce is stacked neatly inside a Whole Foods Market in Commack, New York on April 2, 2019. (Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images) Blueberries and green beans have joined the likes of strawberries, spinach and other nonorganic produce with the most pesticides, a newly published report states.In fact, nearly 75% of nonorganic fruits and vegetables sold in the U.S.

contain residues of potentially harmful pesticides, according to findings from Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy group.The report, published Wednesday and titled "EWG’s 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce," lists what it calls the "Dirty Dozen" – or the 12 fruits and vegetables that were found to be the most contaminated with pesticides.Blueberries and green beans landed on the Dirty Dozen list for 2023.

Both crops were found to have "troubling concentrations" of pesticides that can harm the human nervous system, called organophosphate insecticides, although the levels have decreased over the past decade, the EWG said.Furthermore, several samples of green beans had residues of the toxic pesticide acephate, which the EPA banned more than 10 years ago from use on green beans grown for food, according to the report.More than 90% of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and grapes tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides, while kale, collard and mustard greens, hot peppers and bell peppers had the most pesticides detected of any crop. RELATED: Reusable water bottles hold 40,000 times more bacteria than toilet seat, study findsEWG’s analysis also highlights the "Clean Fifteen," or the 15 items with the lowest amounts of pesticide residues.