USDA Reports 99 Percent of Foods Tested in 2024 Complied with Pesticide Residue Tolerances
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published its Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Summary for 2024.
As in years past, more than 99 percent of foods sampled through PDP were compliant with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs).
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) carries out PDP sampling and testing each year to provide nationally representative data about pesticides in U.S. food. A variety of imported and domestic foods that are highly consumed by the U.S. population are included in PDP, with a strong focus on foods that are consumed by infants and children. Food types sampled in PDP are cycled through every five years, with specialized commodities (e.g., fresh herbs) added to the rotation as data are needed.
PDP is a voluntary program and is not designed for enforcement of tolerances. However, if pesticide residues detected on a food exceed EPA MRLs, or if residues are detected that have no EPA tolerance established, PDP informs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EPA of presumptive tolerance violations (PTVs) if detected residues exceed the EPA tolerance. FDA is responsible for ensuring that food in interstate commerce is compliant with EPA pesticide MRLs. Additionally, EPA considers PDP data in setting and reviewing pesticide tolerances. USDA also uses PDP data to support U.S. growers.
Samples Collected in 2024
Sampling services were conducted by nine participating states in 2024, representing nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population: California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington.
A total of 9,165 samples were collected in 2024, including:
- Fresh and processed fruit and vegetables: 9,165 samples (92.8 percent of all samples), including apples, avocados, blackberries (fresh and frozen), cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, onions, oranges, pineapples (fresh and frozen), potatoes, canned pumpkin, sweet corn (fresh and frozen), and tomatillos
- Almonds: 531 samples (5.1 percent)
- Salmon: 176 samples (1.8 percent).
The origin of samples was 60.1 percent domestic, 38.9 percent imported, 0.9 percent unknown, and 0.1 percent mixed national origin.
Number of Samples with No Detectable Pesticides Continue to Rise
More than 99 percent of PDP samples in 2024 fell below EPA MRLs for pesticides.
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Additionally, 42.3 percent of samples had no detectable pesticide residues—an increase over 2023 (38.8 percent) and 2022 (27.6 percent).
Of the samples that contained detectable pesticides, 17.9 percent contained one pesticide, and 38 percent contained more than one pesticide. Notably, a single cucumber sample contained 17 pesticides, albeit at levels compliant with EPA MRLs.
A total of 379 samples containing 463 pesticides were reported as PTVs to FDA for exceeding EPA MRLs or for containing pesticides with no established tolerance. Of these, 76 samples (0.77 percent of total samples) contained pesticides exceeding MRLs; 12 and 63 of these samples were domestic and imported, respectively.
The samples containing pesticides exceeding EPA tolerances included:
- One sample of avocados
- 22 samples of fresh blackberries
- Eight samples of cherry tomatoes
- Five samples of cucumbers
- Three samples of fresh sweet corn
- 37 samples of tomatillos.
Residues with no established tolerance were detected in 361 samples (3.7 percent), of which 118 were domestic (32.7 percent) and 230 were imported (63.7 percent).
Conversely, commodities that did not have any samples with pesticides exceeding EPA tolerances included: almonds, apples, canned pumpkin, frozen blackberries, fresh/frozen pineapples, frozen sweet corn, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, onion, orange, potatoes, and salmon. Commodities that did not have any samples with pesticides for which no tolerance was established were frozen sweet corn, oranges, potatoes, and salmon.
Persistent Organic Pollutants Still Found in Samples
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are environmental contaminants that are no longer allowed to be used in the U.S. but persist in the environment and therefore may be taken up by crops.
DDT (and its isomers/metabolites), which has been banned in the U.S. since 1972, were detected at low levels in: leaf lettuce (16.2 percent of samples), potatoes (2.3 percent), salmon (1.7 percent), fresh sweet corn (0.7 percent), cucumbers (0.3 percent), and avocadoes (0.3 percent). All residues detected were lower than established FDA action levels.
Trace levels of chlordane, eldrin, and heptachlor epoxide were also detected in some of the tested commodities, despite being banned since the 1970s and 1980s.
Chlordane (cis) was detected in 2.3 percent of canned pumpkin samples and 0.3 percent of cucumber samples. Chlordane (trans) was detected in 0.1 percent of cucumbers.
Dieldrin was detected in 0.1 percent of apple samples, 15.9 percent of canned pumpkin samples, and 1.4 percent of cucumber samples.
Heptachlor epoxide was detected in 3.5 percent of canned pumpkin samples and 0.1 percent of cucumber samples.
No residues of aldrin, BHC (alpha/beta/delta/epsilon), endrin, heptachlor, HCB, lindane (BHC gamma), or mirex were detected in any samples.
