Blackberries: Dirty Dozen™ newcomer
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
This year, blackberries join the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ Dirty Dozen™ list of produce samples found to have the most pesticide residues.
Blackberries’ newcomer status at ten on the Dirty Dozen comes after the Department of Agriculture tested the fruit for the first time, in 2023. The USDA collected 294 non-organic blackberry samples from July through December 2023 and found at least one pesticide in 93 percent of them. EWG’s analysis of these initial tests found:
- A total of 48 different pesticides were detected on all non-organic, or conventional, blackberry samples, with 14 different pesticide residues detected on one sample.
- Over 80 percent of the samples tested contained two or more pesticides.
- On average, more than four pesticides were detected per blueberry sample.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, as they can help strengthen the immune system, protect heart health and lower the risk of chronic disease. Despite being on the Dirty Dozen, blackberries are a good source of several vitamins, such as C and K, minerals, antioxidants and fiber, yet low in sugar, making them a healthy snack.
Consulting the Dirty Dozen can help if you’d like to reduce your exposure to pesticides by knowing which produce has the highest and most toxic residues.
Pesticides found on blackberries
The most common pesticide found on blackberries was cypermethrin, detected on just over half of conventional samples. This synthetic pyrethroid insecticide is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a possible human carcinogen.
Pyrethroid insecticides are also known to cross the placenta and harm the nervous system of the developing fetus. Cypermethrin in particular disrupts thyroid hormones, which are critical to brain development. Early exposure can lead to behavioral and attention deficit disorders. Children are at higher risk of dietary exposure since they consume more food relative to their body weight compared to adults.
Malathion and acetamiprid also detected
Blackberries also had detections of malathion, an organophosphate insecticide – a class of pesticides known to harm the nervous system, especially during early development.
Multiple studies have linked early life exposure to neurodevelopmental harm later in life. The European Union restricts malathion to use in greenhouses only. Additionally,the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 classified the chemical as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans.’
Acetamiprid, also detected on blackberries, is a neonicotinoid insecticide used on a variety of fruits and vegetables. Neonicotinoids are a class of synthetic pesticides that work by binding to the nerve cells of insects and killing them. They are extremely toxic to pollinators and have been linked to reproductive and neurodevelopmental harm.
In 2024, the European Food Safety Authority recommended lowering the acceptable daily intake of acetamiprid, and its allowable limits on food, due to health concerns.
Which berries are better?
Other berries on the Dirty Dozen are strawberries, in second place, and blueberries, at 11th.
Raspberries rank closer to the Clean Fifteen™ of tested produce, with the least pesticide residues – but the USDA last tested them in 2013. Still, California Department of Pesticide Regulation data suggests they may have a lower overall pesticide load than other berries.
Despite the presence of pesticides on blackberries tested by the USDA, they are still an important part of a healthy diet. The USDA’s sample size for blackberries was small, but the agency plans to collect more blackberry samples through June.
Whenever possible, choose organic blackberries. Options for more affordable organic produce may be found in your nearby grocery store’s freezer aisle.
Whether you purchase organic or conventional, remember to wash your produce before eating it. It can help reduce your exposure to both pesticide residues and bacteria.
About EWG’s Shopper’s Guide
EWG has published the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce almost every year since 2004.
It’s a suite of materials investigating the presence of pesticides in foods and helps consumers find ways to reduce exposure to pesticides while consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables.
It includes two lists, the first is the Clean Fifteen, the conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with very low or no traces of pesticides. The second is the Dirty Dozen, or the 12 fresh non-organic fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues.
Some pesticides have more data linking them to health concerns than others. These pesticides are particularly concerning for children. The brain and nervous systems, as well as other physiological systems of young children are far from fully developed and are especially sensitive to disruption and damage from industrial chemicals, including pesticides.
The presence of so many different pesticides in foods is also also concerning from a public health standpoint. When regulating pesticides, government bodies consider them only one at a time without considering the potential total body burden for consumers. There’s little available data about how multiple pesticides interact with each other in the body or how such mixtures could compound each chemical’s individual potential health harms. But the data we do have, primarily from animal studies, suggests that when chemicals are present in a mixture, they can be more toxic combined than individually.
More information
Here are more resources from EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce:
