How to Reduce Pesticides from Fruits & Vegetables – 4 Easy Methods

Maintaining good health is key to enjoying a joyful and fulfilling life. In today’s world, where toxic overload is a growing concern, it’s prudent to minimize the toxins we apply to our skin or ingest. Toxins compromise the immune system, disrupt hormonal balance, generate free radicals, and increase sensitivities and allergies, amongst other issues. ⁴

Fruits and vegetables, whether organic or non-organic, often contain pesticide residues and should always be washed before eating. Non-organic produce may have harmful systemic pesticides that are difficult to remove, while organic produce, though free from synthetic pesticides, also carries residues. Despite this, fruits and vegetables are essential for a healthy diet, and eating enough of them is crucial for balanced nutrition. Choosing organic can reduce synthetic pesticide exposure, but washing all produce remains important.

Many pesticides contain neurotoxins that can harm the brain and nervous system. Some pesticides overstimulate the nervous system, leading to symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and abdominal discomfort. Others can disrupt hormonal functions, potentially causing long-term health issues. Certain pesticides have also been linked to respiratory problems and an increased risk of cancers.

There are two main categories of pesticides, systemic and contact pesticides. Systemic pesticides are absorbed by the plant itself and circulate through its tissues. When pests feed on the plant, they ingest the pesticide and are harmed or killed. In this case, it is always the wiser choice to buy local and organic produce where possible.

Contact pesticides work by coming into direct contact with the pest and are not absorbed by the plant, usually remaining on the surface of the plant. These pesticides can often be washed off produce more easily compared to systemic ones.

While it may be difficult to eliminate all traces of pesticides from produce, simple methods like thorough washing and peeling can significantly reduce the presence of contact pesticides on fruits and vegetables.

Watch the video here to learn 4 methods to aid in contact pesticide removal. I use baking soda, vinegar and ozonated water.

So why do farmers need to use so many pesticides, when their potential toxicities are known? This is because without the use of pesticides, there would be a 78% loss of fruit production, a 54% loss of vegetable production, and a 32% loss of cereal production. Therefore, pesticides play a critical role in reducing diseases and increasing crop yields worldwide.¹

The Six Most Concerning Pesticides on Produce

These chemicals are the ones CR’s experts say contribute most to the risk from certain fruits and vegetables. They are Acephate, Chlorpropham, Chlorpyrifos, Cyhalothrin, Famoxadone, Fludioxonil, Fludioxonil and Methomyl.²

One fruit we should all try to buy organic are grapes. In Australia, our grapes contain 200 times more of the insecticide Methomyl than in the UK.³ If eaten in high doses, this insecticide overstimulates the nervous system and causes nausea, dizziness and confusion.

EWG’S 2024 DIRTY DOZEN

Here is a list of fruits and vegetables that were on the top of the list for having the most amount of pesticide residue in the US. This is according to the The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ representing EWG’s analysis of the latest fruit and vegetable testing data from the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. The 2024 guide includes data from 47,510 samples of 46 fruits and vegetables.

Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale, collard and mustard greens
4. Grapes
5. Peaches
6. Pears
7. Nectarines
8. Apples
9. Bell and hot peppers
10. Cherries
11. Blueberries
12. Green beans

Some Dirty Dozen highlights:

• A total of 209 pesticides were found on Dirty Dozen items.
• Across all 12 items, 95 percent of samples had pesticides.
• Over 90 percent of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and grapes tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides. 
• More than 50 pesticides were detected on samples from each item on the Dirty Dozen, except cherries.
• The most pesticides were found on kale, collard and mustard greens, with 103 individual chemicals found across the items in the category.
• Hot peppers and bell peppers were next, with 101.
• All of the produce on the Dirty Dozen had at least one sample with at least 13 pesticides — and some had as many as 23.
• The neurotoxic organophosphate insecticide acephate, prohibited from use on green beans in 2011, was detected on six percent of that crop’s samples.

EWG’S 2024 CLEAN FIFTEEN

These 15 types of produce had the lowest amounts of pesticide residues, according to EWG’s analysis of the most recent USDA data.

1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapple
4. Onions
5. Papaya
6. Sweet peas (frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Honeydew melon
9. Kiwi
10. Cabbage
11. Watermelon
12. Mushrooms
13. Mangoes
14. Sweet potatoes
15. Carrots

Some Clean Fifteen highlights:

• Almost 65 percent of Clean Fifteen fruit and vegetable samples had no detectable pesticide residues.
• Avocados and sweet corn were the cleanest produce – less than 2 percent of samples of each showed any detectable pesticides.
• Just over 10 percent of Clean Fifteen fruit and vegetable samples had residues of two or more pesticides.
• No sample from the first six Clean Fifteen items tested positive for more than three pesticides.

See the full list of all 2024 Shopper’s Guide fruits and vegetables.

1. Agriculture Development, Pesticide Application and Its Impact on the Environment – PMC
2. The Six Most Concerning Pesticides on Produce – Consumer Reports
3. Pesticides in Australia fruit and veg and whether you should buy organic | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
4. Toxic Sunscreen Ingredients to Avoid – Amy Myers MD