The Environmental Working Group released on March 24 its 2026 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™, finding ongoing widespread pesticide residue on popular non-organic fruits and vegetables — including pesticides that are the forever chemicals known as PFAS.
The guide analyzes annually the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture testing data, and found that 75 percent of non-organic, or conventionally grown, produce samples contained pesticide residues.
The most frequently detected pesticide across all fruits and vegetables was fludioxonil, a PFAS fungicide linked to some potential health concerns. Three of the ten most detected pesticides meet the internationally recognized definition of PFAS.
The annual guide features a listing called the “Dirty Dozen” which highlights the produce with the highest pesticide contamination based on the number, amount, and toxicity of detected pesticide residues. At the top of this year’s Dirty Dozen list are spinach, kale, collard, and mustard greens, followed by strawberries, grapes, and nectarines.
Blackberries, newly tested in recent years, carried an average of more than four pesticides per sample. Ninety percent (90 percent) of potatoes contained chlorpropham, a sprout inhibitor banned in the European Union due to health concerns.
Key findings:
- Some 96 percent of Dirty Dozen samples contained pesticides.
- A total of 203 different pesticides were detected on these crops.
- PFAS pesticides appeared on 63 percent of Dirty Dozen samples.
- Most items had an average of four or more pesticides per sample.
Residue of the PFAS pesticide fludioxonil was found in 14 percent of all produce samples and in nearly 90 percent of peaches and plums. Two other PFAS pesticides, fluopyram and bifenthrin, were also among the 10 most frequently detected chemicals.
Peer-reviewed studies link pesticide exposure to hormone disruption, nervous system harm, and reproductive effects. Some research suggests that consuming produce with high pesticide residues may diminish the cardiovascular and fertility benefits typically associated with fruit and vegetable intake.
The 2026 guide edition analyzed USDA residue data from 54,344 samples of 47 fruits and vegetables, detecting 264 pesticides and breakdown products.
Click here to download the guide.