Pesticides, agricultural uses

US-EPA (1987) US Environmental Protection Agency, Agricultural chemicals in ground water proposed pesticide strategy. US EPA, Washington, DC,p 1... 

National Research Council, The future role of pesticides in US agriculture, National Academy Press Washington, D.C., 2000. 

The US Congress funded the Pesticide Data Program (PDP) in order to improve the accuracy of pesticide dietary risk assessments carried out by the US EPA. The USDA s Agricultural Marketing Service carries out the program. As recommended in the 1993 NAS/NRC report, the PDP focuses on the foods consumed most heavily by children and food is tested, to the extent possible, as eaten (Agricultural Market Service, 2004 National Research Council, 1987). For example, banana and orange samples are tested without the peel processed foods are tested as they come out of a can, jar or freezer bag. 

Agricultural Market Service (2002). Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary Calendar year 2000. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 

It has been reported that in the UK the external costs of agriculture in 1996 amounted to a staggering 89% of the average net farm income (Pretty et al. 2000), that annual damage by pesticides and fertilizers to water quality is suspected to range in the billions of dollars (Doran et al. 1996) and that annual off-site damages from soil erosion by water in the USA are over US 7 billion (Pimentel et al. 1993). 

Pimentel D, Mclaughlin L, Zepp A, Lakitan B, Kraus T, Kleinman P, Vancini F, Roach WJ, Graap E, Keaton WS, Selig G (1993) Environmental and economic impacts of reducing US agricultural pesticide use. In Pimentel, Lehman (eds) The pesticide question environment, economics, and ethics. Chapman and Hall, New York... 

Several hundred-pesticide compounds of diverse chemical structures are widely used in the United States and Europe for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes (Fig. 10). Some are substitutes for organochlorines, which were banned due to their toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation in environmental matrices. According to a report published by the US-EPA, a total of 500,000 tons of pesticides was used in 1985 [144, 145, 148]. As far as specific pesticides are concerned, worldwide consumption of Malathion and Atrazine in 1980 amounted to 24,000 and 90,000 tons, respectively [149,150]. In the Mediterranean countries, 2100 tons of Malathion (active ingredient) were sprayed during the same period compared to 9700 tons in Asia [150]. 

The only phenoxy-acid herbicides to have significant current agricultural use in the USA are 2,4-D, esters of 2,4-D, and MCPA [79]. The total amount of phenoxy compounds used in the US agriculture has remained stable over the last two decades [79]. In Ontario, 2,4-D, MCPA, MCPB, mecoprop, and dicamba accounted for about 10% of the herbicide used in agriculture in 1998 [2], A 1993 pesticide usage survey carried out in Ontario indicated urban applications of phenoxy-acid herbicides similar to agricultural usage [76]. 

The agricultural use of pesticides such as insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides has clearly reduced crop losses due to insects, weeds, and plant diseases in the US and throughout the world. The benefits from agricultural pesticides include improved crop yields, greater availability of fruits, vegetables, and grains, and lower consumer costs (Ecobichon, 1996). 

Three US federal agencies - the EPA, the FDA, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - all play roles in the regulation of pesticides. 

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