Each year, USDA-AMS releases its annual report on its Pesticide Data Program that summarizes data data on pesticide residues in food. This report covers the data collected in 2024.
As seen in the past, data is generally good. "In 2024, over 99 percent of the samples tested had residues below the tolerances established by the EPA with 42.3 percent having no detectable residue."
And as seen in past years, domestic samples have less issues than imported. "Residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.77 percent (76 samples) of the total samples tested (9,872 samples). Of these 76 samples, 12 were domestic (15.8 percent), 63 were imported (82.9 percent), and 1 was of unknown origin (1.3 percent)."
Where were the issues? From page 23 and 24:
"Pesticides exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.77 percent (76 samples) of the total samples tested (9,872 samples). Of these 76 PTV exceeder samples, 12 were domestic (15.8 percent), 63 were imported (82.9 percent), and 1 was of unknown origin (1.3 percent). PTV exceeder samples represented 0.2 percent of the total domestic samples, 1.6 percent of the total imported samples, and 1.1 percent of unknown origin samples. The samples containing pesticides that exceeded established tolerances included: 1 sample of avocados, 22 samples of fresh blackberries, 8 samples of cherry tomatoes, 5 samples of cucumbers, 3 samples of fresh sweet corn, and 37 samples of tomatillos. Tomatillos accounted for 48.7 percent of all exceeder PTV samples in 2024. Commodities that did not have any samples exceeding the established tolerances were the following: almonds, apples, canned pumpkin, frozen blackberries, fresh/frozen pineapples, frozen sweet corn, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, onion, orange, potatoes, and salmon."
"Residues with no established tolerance were found in 3.7 percent (361 samples) of the total samples tested (9,872 samples). Of these 361 samples, 118 were domestic (32.7 percent), 230 were imported (63.7 percent), and 13 were of unknown origin (3.6 percent). PTV no-tolerance-established samples represented 2.0 percent of the total domestic samples, 6.0 percent of the total imported samples, and 14.1 percent of the total unknown origin samples. These samples included 356 fresh and processed fruit and vegetable samples and 5 almond samples. There were 337 samples that contained 1 pesticide for which no tolerance was established, 23 samples with 2 pesticides for which no tolerance was established, and 1 sample that contained 3 pesticides for which no tolerance was established. Fifty-eight of the 361 samples also contained 1 or more pesticides that exceeded an established tolerance. In most cases, the pesticides with no established tolerance were detected at low levels. Some pesticide residues may have resulted from unintentional spray drift in the field; planting of crops in fields previously treated with the pesticide; transfer of pesticide residues, postharvest fungicides, or other growth
regulators applied to other commodities kept in the same storage facilities; or exposure to pesticides during transportation through the distribution chain. Commodities that did not have any samples with pesticides for which no tolerance was established were frozen sweet corn, oranges, potatoes, and salmon."
https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/PDPAnnualSummary.pdf
Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary
Calendar Year 2024
Executive Summary
In 1991, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) was charged with designing and implementing the Pesticide Data Program (PDP) to collect data on pesticide residues in food, and Congress mandated the program in the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). PDP provides high-quality data on pesticide residues in food, particularly foods most likely consumed by infants and children. This 34th Pesticide Data Program summary presents results for samples collected in 2024.
Before a company can sell or distribute any pesticide in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews studies on the pesticide to ensure that it will not pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment, while considering the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of the use of the pesticide. Once EPA has made that determination, it will license or register that pesticide for use in strict accordance with label directions. Before allowing a pesticide to be used on a food commodity, EPA sets limits on how much of a pesticide may be used on food during growing, processing, and storage, and how much can remain on the food. In setting the tolerance, or maximum residue limit in food, EPA makes a safety finding that the pesticide can be used with a reasonable certainty of no harm by considering the toxicity of the pesticide, how much of the pesticide is applied and how often, how much of the pesticide remains in or on food by the time it is marketed and prepared, and all possible routes of exposure including use on crops, exposure from drinking water, and residential exposure. EPA also sets standards to protect workers from exposure to pesticides on the job. PDP data are provided to EPA for its consideration in setting and reviewing tolerances.
PDP is a voluntary program and is not designed for enforcement of tolerances. However, PDP informs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EPA of presumptive tolerance violations (PTVs) if detected residues exceed the EPA tolerance or if residues are detected that have no EPA tolerance established. FDA monitors food in interstate commerce to ensure that these limits are not exceeded. Additionally, PDP data are used within USDA to support U.S. growers. For example, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) uses PDP data to inform discussions about the export of U.S.-grown commodities.
AMS’s Monitoring Programs Division (MPD) is responsible for the administration, planning, and coordination of day-to-day PDP operations. MPD regularly engages with EPA and other Government agencies to establish program priorities and direction. In 2024, sampling and testing program operations were carried out with the support of nine States: California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. These States had a prominent role in program planning and policy setting, particularly policies relating to quality assurance.
PDP data benefit U.S consumers and growers. PDP commodity sampling is based on a rigorous statistical design that ensures the data are reliable for use in exposure assessments and can be used to draw various conclusions about the Nation’s food supply. The pesticides and commodities to be included each year in the sampling are selected based on EPA data needs, and the types and amounts of food consumed by infants and children are considered. The number of samples collected by each State is apportioned according to that State’s population.
Samples are randomly chosen close to the time and point of consumption (i.e., distribution centers rather than at the farm gate) and reflect what is typically available to the consumer throughout the year. Samples are selected without regard to country of origin, variety, growing season, or organic labeling.
Because PDP data are used for risk assessments, PDP laboratory methods are geared towards detecting very low levels of pesticide residues, even when those levels are well below the tolerances established by EPA. Prior to testing, PDP analysts washed samples for 15 to 20 seconds with gently running cold water as a consumer may do; no chemicals, soaps, or any special washes were used PDP laboratories also test foods for low levels of environmental contaminants that are no longer used as pesticides in the United States, but due to their persistence in the environment, particularly in soil, can be taken up by crops. Results for environmental contaminants in all commodities are listed in appendix E. More information on results is provided in section V, “Sample Results and Discussion.”
In 2024, over 99 percent of the samples tested had residues below the tolerances established by the EPA with 42.3 percent having no detectable residue. Appendixes B, C, and D provide a distribution of residues by pesticide and their metabolites for the commodities tested. Residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.77 percent (76 samples) of the total samples tested (9,872 samples). Of these 76 samples, 12 were domestic (15.8 percent), 63 were imported (82.9 percent), and 1 was of unknown origin (1.3 percent). Residues with no established tolerance were found in 3.7 percent (361 samples) of the total samples tested (9,872 samples). Of these 361 samples, 118 were domestic (32.7 percent), 230 were imported (63.7 percent), and 13 were of unknown origin (3.6 percent).
Fresh and processed fruit and vegetables accounted for 9,165 samples or 92.8 percent of the total 9,872 samples collected in 2024. Fresh and processed fruit and vegetables tested during 2024 were: 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 accounted for 531 samples, or 5.4 percent of the total number of samples collected in 2024. Salmon accounted for 176 samples, or 1.8 percent of the total number of samples collected in 2024. Domestic samples accounted for 60.1 percent of all samples, while 38.9 percent were imports, 0.9 percent were of unknown origin, and less than 0.1 percent were of mixed national origin.
This summary report includes the distribution of residues by pesticide. The full results for more than 2.8 million analyses, representing each pesticide monitored on each commodity, are too numerous to be included in their entirety in this summary. The complete PDP database file for 2024 along with annual summaries and database files for previous years are available on the PDP website at www.ams.usda.gov/pdp or by contacting MPD at amsmpo.
data@usda.gov. PDP data are also available using the online PDP database search tool that can be accessed at apps.ams.usda.gov/pdp.
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