Celery is not on the current Dirty Dozen list. The Environmental Working Group’s 2026 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce ranks 47 fruits and vegetables by pesticide contamination, and celery did not make the top 12. This may surprise you if you remember older versions of the list, where celery was a regular fixture. The 2026 Dirty Dozen includes spinach, kale (along with collard and mustard greens), strawberries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, cherries, apples, blackberries, pears, potatoes, and blueberries.
Why Celery Used to Rank Higher
For years, celery was one of the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables tested by the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program. Its structure plays a role: celery has no protective skin or rind, and its ribbed stalks can trap residues. Older testing data consistently showed multiple pesticide detections on conventional celery samples. In 2008, for example, nearly 30% of domestic conventional celery samples had detectable residues of just one fungicide alone.
The EWG recently updated its ranking methodology, which may partially explain the shift. Previous guides used six equally weighted metrics. The current version uses four: the percentage of samples with at least one pesticide detected, the average number of individual pesticides per sample, the average total concentration of pesticides, and a new metric for overall toxicity. That toxicity measure uses the threshold at which no adverse health effects are observed for each pesticide, as determined by the EPA. This change means a crop could have detectable residues but rank lower if those specific chemicals are less toxic.
Pesticide Residues on Celery Today
Falling off the Dirty Dozen doesn’t mean celery is pesticide-free. It simply means that at least 12 other items tested worse across the EWG’s metrics. Conventional celery still carries residues, though the specific chemicals and concentrations shift over time as farming practices and regulations change.
Organic celery carries substantially less contamination. Research has found organic celery contains roughly 85% less synthetic chemical residue than conventional celery. In older USDA testing, organic celery samples showed zero detectable residues of chemicals that appeared on nearly a third of conventional samples. If minimizing pesticide exposure is a priority for you, organic celery remains the cleaner option.
How the Dirty Dozen List Works
The EWG builds its annual list from USDA testing data. The USDA washes and prepares produce the way a consumer would before testing it, so the residues detected are what you’d actually be eating at home. Each of the 47 fruits and vegetables is scored across four metrics, normalized on a 1-to-100 scale, and then ranked from most to least contaminated. The top 12 become the Dirty Dozen; the bottom 15 become the Clean Fifteen.
The list changes year to year based on new testing data and shifts in agricultural pesticide use. A fruit or vegetable can move on or off the list as residue levels fluctuate. Celery’s absence in 2026 reflects the most recent data available, but it could return in future years if contamination patterns change.
Reducing Pesticide Residues at Home
Regardless of whether a vegetable makes the Dirty Dozen, washing your produce properly removes a significant amount of residue. A study published in the journal Foods compared several common washing methods on leafy vegetables and found that running water was the most effective, removing an average of 77% of pesticide residues. That outperformed baking soda solutions (52%), vinegar (51%), and even commercial produce detergents (44%).
The key is running water, not a still soak. Holding celery stalks under a stream of water and rubbing the surface with your fingers or a brush works better than dunking them in a bowl. For celery specifically, pay attention to the inner grooves of each stalk where residues can collect. Trimming the base and removing outer stalks also helps, since these tend to accumulate more contamination.
Low-Pesticide Alternatives on the Clean Fifteen
If you’re looking for vegetables that consistently test low for pesticides, the 2026 Clean Fifteen includes several options: sweet corn, onions, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, and mushrooms. These items had the lowest pesticide residues of all 47 fruits and vegetables tested. For most of them, buying conventional is a reasonable choice if cost is a factor, since the difference between organic and conventional residue levels is smaller for these crops than for Dirty Dozen items.
One note: a small amount of sweet corn sold in the U.S. comes from genetically modified seeds. If avoiding GMOs matters to you, buying organic sweet corn is the straightforward way to do that.