Summer berries can be full of pesticides. Learn the best ways to wash them

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

(CNN) — If there’s a blackberry or strawberry in sight, my infant grandson will gobble it up and beg for more. Berries are packed with antioxidants, fiber and vitamin C, so his healthy eating habits should put me, the proud grandmother, in a happy place, right?

Then why am I so concerned?

Because blackberries and strawberries, along with the ever-popular blueberries, are listed in the “Dirty Dozen” as some of the most pesticide-laden produce grown in the United States, according to the annual 2026 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, has produced it since 2004.

The 2026 Dirty Dozen list also includes cherries, apples, pears, grapes, peaches, nectarines, and leafy greens such as kale and spinach. Over the decades, the order may jump around, but those kid-favorite berries tend to remain in the Dirty Dozen, year after year.

There is one bright spot: raspberries. Partly due to the way they are grown, raspberries aren’t in the 2026 list. In fact, they rank much closer to EWG’s “Clean Fifteen” group of fruits and vegetables with fewest pesticides. (Raspberries came in at 22 in those rankings.)

The EWG ratings calculates its ratings from testing done by the US Department of Agriculture. Most of the pesticide levels found by the USDA fall below benchmark levels set by the US Environmental Agency. However, critics, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, say those levels are much too high and fail to address the health impact of long-term, cumulative exposure to multiple pesticides.

“Pesticide exposure during pregnancy may lead to an increased risk of birth defects, low birth weight and fetal death,” according to the AAP. “Exposure in childhood has been linked to attention and learning problems, as well as cancer.”

Studies show pesticides are also associated with lower sperm concentrations, heart disease, cancer and an increase in genetic damage in humans.

The Alliance for Food and Farming, which represents organic and conventional produce farmers, told CNN that “the mere presence of a residue does not automatically mean something is unsafe. The EPA sets limits on pesticide residues that already include huge safety margins to protect infants and children.”

Only surface pesticides can be removed

You can effectively remove many “contact” pesticides that sit on the surface of a fruit or vegetable, said Peng Gao, an assistant professor of environmental health and exposomics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

However, “systemic” pesticides, which are absorbed through the roots and leaves of a plant, become part of the fruit and cannot be washed off, Gao said in an email. So, if you’re worried about pesticides, the best solution — if you can afford it — is to buy organic versions of the most pesticide-laden produce, including berries.

Organic farming prohibits most synthetic pesticides, so farmers often use naturally derived versions such as minerals and plant extracts. On occasion, wind and water runoff from neighboring farms using prohibited pesticides can contaminate an organic farm and even lead to the loss of the organic license.

Still, studies have shown that when people began eating more organic foods, levels of pesticides in their bodies decreased up to 95% in days. Feeding a child organic food from the start, experts say, can help reduce risk dramatically.

The benefits of baking soda washes

If you can’t afford organic, you can still reduce levels of contact pesticides in berries and other produce with a short soak in your choice of baking soda or vinegar (but not both), according to an peer-reviewed April report by EWG scientists.

The review analyzed 47 studies from around the world on various methods of washing produce, including tap water. While that does work, researchers found rinsing or soaking in water had the lowest median percent reduction of about 30%.

“Overall, soaking with vinegar or baking soda had the highest median percent reduction — about 50% — across all pesticides and produce,” said Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, in an email. She was not involved with the review.

How to wash your produce

Use a teaspoon of baking soda for each 2 cups of water and soak most produce for five to 10 minutes. The mildly alkaline solution created by baking soda helps degrade many contact pesticides on the surface, Gao said.

Berries, however, may only require soaking for one to two minutes because “the high water content and thin skin of these fruits absorb solutions,” he said. Berries also should be soaked immediately before eating, he added, as washing and storing to eat later hastens spoilage.

If you prefer to use vinegar, which unlike baking soda might impact taste, use 1 part white household vinegar to 3 or 4 parts of water, Gao said. Except berries, most produce could soak for five to 20 minutes. Again, only soak berries for one to two minutes.

Next, lift, don’t pour, the produce out of the bowl, leaving the dirt at the bottom. Rinse well under cool running water. Follow with an immediate pat dry to avoid flavor and texture changes.

There is more specific pesticide information on each type of kid-favorite berry, so if you’re a worried caregiver like me, read on.

The best way to wash blackberries

The latest USDA testing data from 2024 found that the 885 samples of nonorganic blackberries contained four pesticide residues on average — one sample had 14 different pesticides.

The synthetic pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin, which the EPA calls a possible human carcinogen, was detected on nearly half of all samples. Another pyrethroid called bifenthrin, which the EPA says is safe under typical use limits, was found on 30% of blackberry samples. Bifenthrin, however, is a PFAS “forever” pesticide, which brings yet another set of health concerns.

Manufactured since the 1940s to make products nonstick, stain-resistant and water-repellent, legacy PFAS have been linked to human cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage, hormone disruption and damage to the immune system, according to the EPA.

Pyrethroid insecticides are known to cross the placenta and have been linked to behavioral and attention deficit disorders in children. Cypermethrin disrupts thyroid hormones, which are critical to brain development.

Testing found malathion on 14% of blackberry samples. It’s an organophosphate pesticide that interferes with the normal function of the nervous system of insects and people. The pesticide has been linked to human neurodevelopmental disorders.

However, you can do something about those pesticides. Malathion and pyrethroids are surface chemicals that respond well to washing, Gao said: “A 30- to 60-second dip in 1% baking soda — 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of cool water — followed by a thorough cool-water rinse and immediate drying on a clean towel is the right household approach.”

Unfortunately, two highly toxic systemic chemicals, methamidophos and acephate, were found on 3% of blackberry samples. Methamidophos is a potent neurotoxin that has been banned in the United States since 2009 but can still be found on imported produce. The EPA is taking similar action on the pesticide acephate, which degrades to methamidophos as it breaks down.

However, USDA testing found the two chemicals only on blackberries imported from Mexico. You can avoid exposure by buying US-grown or organic blackberries, Gao said.

The best way to wash blueberries

Blueberries present a problem: Of the two most prevalent residues, boscalid (on 46% of USDA samples) and acetamiprid (on 36% of samples), both are systemic and therefore absorbed into plant tissue, according to Gao.

“Together, they appear on most blueberry samples — and washing cannot effectively remove them,” he said. “Of the two, acetamiprid is the more concerning from a human-health standpoint.”

Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid, modeled after nicotine, which was used as rat poison and insecticide as far back as the 1600s. It works by targeting an insect’s nervous system, causing paralysis and death. Animal studies show neurotoxicity to offspring.

In 2024, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) called for a fivefold reduction in safety levels, dropping the acceptable daily intake from 0.025 to 0.005 milligram per kilogram of body weight per day. The EPA considers the chemical safe at current safety levels.

Boscalid is a possible endocrine-disrupting fungicide that the EPA says has “suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential.” The EFSA is reconsidering boscalid status as an allowable pesticide.

Contact pesticides found on blueberries include cypermethrin (23% of samples), the PFAS pesticide bifenthrin (19%) and two organophosphates: phosmet, which targets the immune system, and malathion, which has been linked to cancer.

Another systemic neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, was found on 14% of samples. However current safety levels are adequate, according to experts.

Soak blueberries for a longer period than blackberries — one to two minutes — as blueberries have a tougher outer skin, Gao said. Follow that with a thorough cool-water rinse and dry on a clean towel.

“For families particularly concerned about the acetamiprid signal, the practical options are buying organic or wild lowbush blueberries, which are generally grown with much less spraying than cultivated highbush varieties,” he said.

The best way to wash strawberries

The USDA testing reviewed by EWG found a fungicide called carbendazim on over 16% of strawberries tested, and bifenthrin, the same PFAS pyrethroid found on blueberries and blackberries, on 29% of samples.

Carbendazim has been banned in the European Union due to reproductive and developmental toxicity issues and is “among the more concerning compounds on strawberries from a human-health standpoint,” Gao said. The chemical is partly systemic, so while the surface fraction can be washed off, the absorbed fraction cannot.

Strawberries are also exposed to additional fungicides of concern, Gao said. One is boscalid, the systemic endocrine-disrupting fungicide that the EPA is reevaluating. Another is fludioxonil, a systemic PFAS pesticide added to produce after harvest to stop mold and mildew. The chemical has killed human cells and damaged DNA in laboratory tests.

“The European Food Safety Authority also considers fludioxonil to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical that has harmed the reproductive system in animals, report coauthor Varun Subramaniam, a science analyst at EWG, told CNN previously.

A March 2025 investigation by EWG found the highest levels of fludioxonil on lemons, at over 1 part per million, followed by peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, blueberries and apricots. In addition, fludioxonil was found on 90% of the tested samples of nectarines, peaches and plums, according to USDA data.

In response, the EPA told CNN in a March email that “fungicides, like Fludioxonil, keep America’s food supply safe, abundant, and affordable. EPA evaluates every new and existing pesticide with gold-standard science to ensure the products on the market keep Americans and our food supply safe and healthy with no unreasonable risk of harm.”

Baking soda does not chemically degrade fludioxonil and can only dislodge what is on the surface of the strawberry, Gao said. Don’t soak strawberries, Gao said. Instead give them a “brief” 30- to 60-second dip in the same baking soda solution as other berries, rinse well in cool water, and dry immediately.

“Remove the green leafy top after washing, not before,” he said. “Hulling first creates a cut surface where solutions and dissolved residues can be drawn into the flesh.”

The best way to wash raspberries

When pesticide residues are found on raspberries, they tend to be from the same chemistry families — pyrethroids, organophosphates and neonicotinoids — as on other berries, Gao said.

“The key difference is prevalence, not the nature of the compounds: a given residue is just less likely to be there,” he said. “That makes raspberries a reasonable lower-exposure substitute for kids who love berries.”

Wash raspberries using the same 30- to 60-second brief dip in the baking soda solution, an easy rinse under cool water and a careful pat dry.

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