Regardless of whetheryoure a parent, an environmentalist, or just a plain old shopper, chances are youve gazed out overthe supermarket producesection and asked yourself, Should I buy organic?

Everyones heard of the scary chemicals used by agribusiness to keep yourapples worm-freeits what generates the fearthat makes organic produce lucrative. In exchange for more money,consumers are told they can have pesticide-free peace of mind.On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group (which calls itselfanonpartisan organization aimed atprotecting human health and the environment) released its annual ranking of the best (Clean Fifteen) and the worst (Dirty Dozen) producewhen it comes topesticide content. The list is meant to be a tool for the consumer: If your favorite fruit is among the Dirty Dozen, the thinking goes, youd be safer buying organic.

Strawberries and spinach hold the top two spots inthis years Dirty Dozenmore than 98percent of samples tested positive for pesticide residue. One sample of strawberries, the report states, came with 20 different pesticides, while spinach samples had on average double the amount of pesticide residue by weight as any of the other crops reviewed.

Strawberriesrankhigh on the Dirty Dozen list.

Photographer: Mark Elias/Bloomberg

When buying conventional, the guide says, try to stick with the Clean Fifteen: These fruits and vegetables, including sweet corn, mangoes, eggplant, and cabbage, had the fewest pesticides present and in the lowest concentrations. The guide also helps shoppers feel as if they are saving money safely: You dont need to cough up extra cashfor already expensive avocados, for example,becauseonly 1percent had detectable pesticide.

But experts in pesticides and toxicology say thisannual list, seen as helpful for sales of organic produce, oversimplifies a complicated issue. Just because pesticides are on an apple doesnt meanthe apple is dangerous. Meanwhile, critics say, the EWG survey muddies what is a much more important message for American consumers: Eat more fruits and vegetables. Period.

In fact, organic marketing that emphasizes the perceived threat of pesticide residue could be dissuading some consumers from buying fruits and vegetables at all. And thats really not healthy.

One critic of the list is Carl Winter, director of the FoodSafe Program at the University of California, Davis. In 2011, heco-authored a studyconcluding that the level of pesticides consumers were exposed to viathe Dirty Dozen was negligible. Whats more, they found thatorganic produce had some pesticide residue, too.And finally, they reported, EWGs methodology does not appear to follow any established scientific procedures.

Take the bell pepper. According to EWGs 2010 report, it had high levels of the organophosphate insecticide methamidophos. Organophosphates can be verydangerous, and even mild poisoning can cause vomiting and chest tightness. But Winter found that thereference dose (RfD), or the highest acceptable level of a toxin that can be consumed orally, as set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was almost 50times higher than what was found on those bell peppers.

Sonya Lunder, an EWG senior analyst, acknowledged Winters report but advised caution that the EPAs continued efforts to revoke tolerancesspecifically for neurotoxic insecticidesis a sign that some pesticides do pose a safety risk in the food supply.

Other studies do support theEWGto a point. In 2011, three reportsshowed prenatal exposure to organophosphates had a measurable impact on achilds neurological development, including lowering their IQ byan average of as much as seven points. The independentstudies began during pregnancy and followedthe children until they were seven years old, both in low income New YorkCity neighborhoods where they were exposed through home pesticide use, and in Californias Salinas Valley, Americas No. 1vegetable-growingregion. The studies showed that prenatal exposure to organophosphates (as opposed to consumption of food tainted by it) islikely to have long-term, deleterious impacts on children.

Immigrant farm workers harvest spinach near Coachella, Calif.

Photographer: David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

In 2015, another study compared organophosphate byproducts in the urine of conventionalproduce consumers withthose in the urine of organic consumers.Not surprisingly, organic fans showed lower levels. But,says Cynthia Curl, an assistant professor at Boise State University and the studys lead author, there isnt firm evidence that organic eaters were any healthier in the end.

An organic diet dramatically and immediately reduces or eliminates exposure to organophosphates, Curl said. Is that enough to lead to a measurable health difference? Thats what we dont know. In other words, working in a field or living in a home where pesticides are sprayed isnt the same as eating a fruit or vegetable with just a little bit of residue, and even less after its been washed or cooked or both.

Winter points to the old toxicologist adage: Its the dose that makes the poison.

Testing has shown that organic produce sometimes haspesticide residue, both chemicalsapproved for use in organic agriculture and those coming through drift, irrigation, and other kinds of inadvertent contamination, Winter saidin a2012 study, Pesticide Residues in Imported, Organic and Suspect Fruits and Vegetables.

QuickTake Organic Food

In 2010, for example, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation analyzed 137 organic produce samples and found 20 of them, or 14.6percent, had pesticide residue, including seven that had higher levels than would be allowed under the rules of the U.S. National Organic Program. Wintersconclusion: Organic produce has lower levels of pesticides than conventional produce, but none of it is worth worrying about.

The EWG doesnt include testing on organic produce in its calculations, andLunder points out that the testing that has been done involves many fewer samples. Plus, says Curl from Boise State, the pesticides most people are concerned with, such asorganophosphates, arent used in organic agricultureat all.

As for long-term buildup, Winter says the studies that setallowable levelstake that into account and are done over long periods of time. Our typical exposure is often 100,000 times lower than levels that show no effect in lab animals who have been fed the chemicals on a daily basis throughout their lifetime.

Curlconcedes that the EWG list remains helpful for consumers despite its shortcomings. If you are concerned about reducing your level of exposure to pesticides, she says, eating organic is one way to do that.

One misperception about the value of organic foods, saysMichael Joseph, chief executive of Green Chef, a certified organic meal kit company, is that consumer pesticide exposure isthe overriding concern. Eating organic means supporting an industry that uses less harmful chemicals, and thats good for soil health, minimizing runoff into waterways.

Ive been down in Costa Rica to conventional banana fields where whats happening is you wind up polluting that local water system and make it unusable for a local population, he says.

But Winter said lists leveraging the fear of pesticides might be doing harm to the most vulnerable.

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In astudy published in late 2016 that surveyed more than 600 low-income household shoppersin the greater Chicago area, one reason people avoided buying fruits and vegetables was because of publicity about pesticides levels in non-organic options. In response to several statementsabout the differences between organic and conventional fruits and vegetablesincluding assertions that organics werent more nutritious and that both may have safe, low levels of pesticidesthe statement citing the Dirty Dozen list elicited thegreatest number of people to choose less likely to purchase any type of fruits or vegetables.

Put simply, fear of pesticides can drive people away from fruits and vegetables in general. And even EWG recognizes thats a bad result. (Eating conventionally grown produce is far better than skipping fruits and vegetables, the group said in its 2016 report.)

We know so much about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and theres so much uncertainty about levels of residues, Curl said. I never want my work to be interpreted as we shouldnt eat fruits and vegetables because we can't afford organic.

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How Organic Produce Can Make America Less Healthy - Bloomberg