12 Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables : via @TreeHugger

Dirty Dozen: The 12 to buy organic (in order of pesticide load, apples being the worst offenders).

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Sweet bell peppers
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Imported nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9. Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11. Domestic blueberries
12. Potatoes

Clean Fifteen: Buying organic is more sound environmentally, but if you can't, these options are less contaminated and don't pose as much of a health threat as do the dozen above.

1. Onions
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Cabbage
6. Sweet peas
7. Asparagus
8. Mangoes
9. Eggplant
10. Kiwi
11. Domestic cantaloupe
12. Sweet potatoes
13. Grapefruit
14. Watermelon
15. Mushrooms

Other disheartening data from the report includes:

• Some 98 percent of conventional apples have detectable levels of pesticides.
• Domestic blueberries tested positive for 42 different pesticide residues.
• Seventy-eight different pesticides were found on lettuce samples.
• Every single nectarine USDA tested had measurable pesticide residues.
• As a category, grapes have more types of pesticides than any other fruit, with 64 different chemicals.
• Thirteen different pesticides were measured on a single sample each of celery and strawberries.

For the full list, see Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. You can also download a pocket-sized guide here.

Please read full and follow at:

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/top-12-toxic-fruits-and-vegetables.html