Before you make your fruit salad

In March, the Environmental Working Group released the 2026 Dirty Dozen, its annual ranking of the most pesticide-laden produce based on USDA testing data. This was the first year the list flagged PFAS on produce — the “forever chemicals” that brands like Nalgene, REI and Camelbak removed from their water bottles in the late-2000s along with BPA after the wave of scientific research was published linking it to hormone disruption. BPA was banned from sippy cups and water bottles in 2012, and in 2013 it was banned from infant formula packaging, but is still largely legal in the United States to use in most food-contact materials.

Of Dirty Dozen samples, 96% had detectable pesticide residues, and 84% of strawberry samples tested positive for at least one PFAS compound. The USDA collects that data on produce that has already been rinsed, so what’s being measured is residual to what most do at home.

Fludioxonil, a fungicide applied postharvest to prevent mold during shipping, was the most frequently detected pesticide across all produce in the country this year. It penetrates into the skin of the fruit and cannot be washed off, and its classification as a PFAs differs based on international and U.S. regulatory standards.

PFAS chemicals get their nickname from the molecular bonds that make them difficult to break down in the environment, in soil and in our bodies. The EPA connects the broader class to cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage, fertility issues and hormone disruption. Fludioxonil has damaged DNA and killed human cells in laboratory testing, and animal studies link it to liver and nervous system harm. Separately, UCLA published a study last week finding that residential exposure to environmental chlorpyrifos, a pesticide still legal on strawberries in most states outside California, is associated with a 2.5-fold increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. California banned the use of chlorpyrifos as of January 2021.

Almost every strawberry in California’s markets right now came from the Pajaro Valley (Watsonville and Salinas). Driscoll’s, headquartered in Watsonville, is the largest berry supplier in the country. The Pajaro Valley Unified School District has more fumigants applied within its boundaries than any other school district in California, more than 1.7 million pounds annually, with over a million pounds of total pesticides applied in Santa Cruz County each year. Santa Cruz County also has the second-highest childhood cancer rate in the state at 22.6 cases per 100,000 children under 15 versus the California average of 16.3, per National Cancer Institute data. Interestingly, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation with its newly expanded statewide network of 10 monitoring systems (from five) is still not adequately collecting the data that would link pesticide exposure to disease outcomes in the communities surrounding these fields. 

On the flip side, EWG publishes their Clean Fifteen list, where 60% of samples had no detectable pesticide residues this year. Several are in peak season right now and are delicious in a summer fruit salad: watermelon, pineapple, mango, kiwi and avocado. Other foods to consider from the Clean Fifteen for your salad include bananas, papaya and sweet corn.

If you really want berries though (strawberries, blackberries and blueberries all made the 2026  Dirty Dozen), buying in-season and organic or growing it yourself makes the biggest difference. Yes, organic food costs more, and yes, nonorganic food can grow bigger and look more appetizing to the eye. But there are specific foods, including spinach, which tops the list for overall pesticide contamination, that you can easily grow yourself, and you don’t need a big home garden to do it. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, potatoes (also on the Dirty Dozen), and leafy greens all do well in containers on a Bay Area patio, and our climate means you can grow them most of the year. A few pots on the back porch can go a long way in reducing exposure to known-harmful chemicals.