Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs released its biennial pesticide usage report on Jan. 7, 2000. Titled "Pesticide Industry Sales and Usage – 1996-1997 Market Estimates," the report details U.S. estimates for pesticide sales and use based on information from EPA records, Department of Agriculture surveys of pesticide usage and other public and proprietary sources.
The EPA’s report indicates a continuation of recent trends in pesticide use in 1996 and 1997. According to the report, the overall total U.S. use for all types of pesticide active ingredients is about 4.6 billion pounds per year. Agricultural use accounted for slightly more than three-fourths of the total of 1.23 billion pounds of conventional pesticides (including sulfur and petroleum products) in 1997. The remaining nearly one-fourth of conventional pesticide use is split about evenly between applications by homeowners (11 percent) and professional applications in non-agriculture sectors (12 percent).
Some items detailed in the report include the following EPA figures for the U.S. pesticide market:
- Households using pesticides – 74 million out of 100 million total
- Certified commercial applicators – 375,000
- Commercial pesticide firms – 35,000 to 40,000
- Major pesticide manufacturers – 18
- New active ingredients registered as pesticides in 1997 – 28 (Of these, two-thirds were "safer" pesticides – biological or other reduced risk.)
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The report also stated that herbicides are the leading type of pesticides in terms of both user expenditures and volume used. In lawnandlandscape.com’s Jan. 3, 2000, weekly poll, several users responded to the question "What formulation of herbicide product do you prefer? Liquid, Granular, or Does Not Matter." Of these respondents, 57.7 percent choose liquid herbicides and 39.6 percent chose granular herbicides.]
To view the complete EPA report, please visit www.epa.gov/oppbead1/pestsales.