A new peer-reviewed study led by scientists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) raises an important alarm: Regular consumption of certain fruits and vegetables can significantly increase pesticide levels in our bodies. And this is not a marginal detail. Residues of these substances are now omnipresent in our daily diet and, according to growing scientific evidence, even exposures considered “low” could contribute to harmful effects on health over time.
Many pesticides are in fact linked to a wide spectrum of risks: from the increased incidence of some tumors to damage to the reproductive system, from hormonal interference to possible effects on the neurological development of children. The latter is a particularly serious concern, since the youngest represent the most vulnerable group, exposed during critical phases of growth in which even small quantities of toxic substances can have long-term consequences.
Yet the solution cannot and must not be giving up fruit and vegetables. As the researchers themselves point out, plant products remain the basis of a balanced diet, rich in nutrients, fiber and antioxidants essential for our health. The real goal is to understand how to reduce exposure to pesticides without sacrificing the benefits of a healthy and varied diet.
And this is precisely where the EWG study proves valuable: it helps us identify which foods contribute most to the accumulation of pesticides in the body and offers us the tools to choose more consciously what we bring to the table every day.
Published onInternational Journal of Hygiene and Environmental HealthEWG research united three key data sets for the first time. On the one hand, the pesticide residues detected by the US Department of Agriculture in fresh produce between 2013 and 2018, on the other, the eating habits of 1,837 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and finally the pesticide biomarkers measured in their urine in the two-year period 2015-2016.
By overlaying this information, scientists have created a real “dietary pesticide exposure score” to estimate which products contribute most to increasing the toxic load in our body.
Fruits and vegetables most at risk
The results of the study are clear: those who consume greater quantities of fruit and vegetables with high residues (such as spinach, strawberries and peppers) were associated with much higher levels of pesticides in their urine compared to those who prefer foods with lower residues.
In this sense, the “Dirty Dozen” of 2025, also drawn up by EWG, comes to our aid, a list which highlights the 12 vegetables and fruits most contaminated by pesticides. This is the list:
In addition to these foods, the EWG also reported other products with particularly high levels of toxicity:
As lead author Alexis Temkin explains:
the results confirm that what we eat directly influences the level of pesticides in our body.
The risk is particularly high for young children and pregnant women, who are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of these substances.
The numbers of the study are impressive: measurable residues of 178 different pesticides were detected among the fruits and vegetables analyzed. Of these, only 42 substances were detectable as biomarkers in urine, but enough to show a direct and unambiguous link to what people had eaten. An important fact that emerged from the research is that exposure always concerns mixtures of pesticides, not single isolated substances.
To obtain meaningful results, the researchers had to exclude potatoes from the analysis. The reason? They are consumed in extremely different ways — fried, baked, boiled, processed — and this makes it difficult to estimate actual exposure to pesticides through the consumption of “potatoes” alone as a generic category.
A regulatory issue: cumulative exposure is not considered
The study also highlights an important regulatory gap that should make us reflect. In the United States, as in many other parts of the world, safety limits are established by evaluating one pesticide at a time, without ever considering the combined effect of numerous substances present in the diet at the same time.
Yet the reality is very different: we are exposed every day to real cocktails of pesticides that can interact with each other and amplify the effects on health. According to the EWG, the method used in this study — which combines analysis of residues in products, toxicity assessment and biomonitoring — could become a valuable tool for improving risk assessments, especially for the most sensitive segments of the population.
What can we do
The EWG’s recommendation is clear: continue eating fruits and vegetables, but with some additional strategic attention.
Prefer organic for the most contaminated foods
Switching from conventional to organic produce reduces pesticide biomarkers in the body in a matter of days. When possible, the organic choice should have priority especially for foods that regularly enter the “Dirty Dozen”, the annual list that the EWG publishes every year together with the “Clean Fifteen”, which instead collects the least contaminated products such as avocado, pineapple, corn, onions, mushrooms and cauliflower.
Wash fruit and vegetables well
Thorough washing under running water, even if it does not completely eliminate pesticides, can reduce a significant part of them. It is better to avoid commercial detergents and prefer running water, possibly with the addition of bicarbonate to increase effectiveness.
Vary your diet
Alternating different fruit and vegetables as much as possible is a simple but effective strategy: it allows you to avoid regular and concentrated exposure to the same pesticides, better distributing the overall “toxic load”.
