Running Head: PESTICIDE USE 1
Pesticide Use
Centenary College
BIO1110 – Principles of Environmental Science
PESTICIDE USE 2
Pesticides are chemicals used to eliminate or control a variety of agricultural pests that can
damage crops and livestock and reduce farm productivity. The most commonly applied
pesticides are insecticides (to kill insects), herbicides (to kill weeds), rodenticides (to kill
rodents), and fungicides (to control fungi, mold, and mildew). The latest US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) information on US pesticide usage, from 2007, reports that over 1
billion tons of pesticides are used in the US every year. This is 22% of the estimated 5.2 billion
pounds of pesticides used worldwide. Agricultural use accounted for 80% of pesticide use in the
US. Of the pesticide classes, herbicides are the most widely used in all US sectors. (sustainable)
According to the Pesticide Action Network of North America, there is no national data on
pesticide use—further compounding the misinformation about the safety and ubiquity of these
toxic chemicals. California, however, is one of the few states collecting pesticide data, some of
