The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 19 published the 2020 Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary.
The summary shows that more than 99% of samples tested had pesticide residues below benchmark levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to a USDA press release.
“The 2020 data and summary can be found on the Pesticide Data Program page of the AMS website," the press release said. "Printed copies may be obtained by contacting the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Science and Technology Program, Monitoring Programs Division by e-mail at amsmpo.data@usda.gov.”
The report for 2020, issued by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), marks the 30th year of PDP results. Over the 30 years, USDA has tested 126 commodities, including fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, grains, fish, rice, specialty products and water. PDP monitoring results for more than 310,000 samples through the years are available on the Pesticide Data Program website, according to the release.
The release states that each year, USDA and EPA work together to identify foods to be tested by the PDP on a rotating basis. In 2020, tests were conducted on 9,600 samples from 18 commodities of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. AMS partners with cooperating state agencies to collect and analyze pesticide residue levels on the selected food commodities.
