The US Still Uses Dozens of Hazardous Pesticides Banned in Other Countries

“For instance, phor­ate, the most used “extreme­ly haz­ardous” insec­ti­cide in the U.S. in 2017, is banned in 38 coun­tries, includ­ing Chi­na, Brazil and India. None of the “extreme­ly haz­ardous” pes­ti­cides can be used in the 27 nations of the Euro­pean Union.

The US Still Uses Dozens of Hazardous Pesticides Banned in Other Countries

By Pramod Acharya, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

19 October 20

A worker pouring out chemicals. (photo: USDA)
A worker pouring out chemicals. (photo: USDA)

 total of about 400 dif­fer­ent agri­cul­tur­al pes­ti­cides were used in the Unit­ed States in 2017, the lat­est year data is avail­able. More and more pes­ti­cides have been used because they “con­tribute to high­er yields and improved prod­uct qual­i­ty by con­trol­ling weeds, insects, nema­todes, and plant pathogens,” accord­ing to the U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture.

How­ev­er, the USDA not­ed, pes­ti­cides pose con­se­quences for people’s health and the environment.

About 150 agri­cul­tur­al pes­ti­cides that the World Health Orga­ni­za­tion con­sid­ers “haz­ardous” at some lev­el to human health were used in the Unit­ed States in 2017, accord­ing to a review of U.S. Geo­log­i­cal Sur­vey data.

Cancer producing (carcinogens) used in Sonoma County per California Dept. Of Pesticide Regulations. Mainly vineyard use.

The geo­log­i­cal sur­vey esti­mat­ed that at least one bil­lion pounds of agri­cul­tur­al pes­ti­cides were used in 2017. Of that, about 60 per­cent – or more than 645 mil­lion pounds – of the pes­ti­cides were haz­ardous to human health, accord­ing to the WHO’s data.

Many “haz­ardous” pes­ti­cides that have been used in the U.S. for decades are banned in many oth­er countries.

Twen­ty-five pes­ti­cides that are banned in more than 30 coun­tries were still used in the Unit­ed States in 2017, accord­ing to an analy­sis of data from the U.S. Geo­log­i­cal Sur­vey and the Pes­ti­cide Action Net­work Inter­na­tion­al, which keeps track of banned pes­ti­cides around the world.

The action net­work’s data show that about 70 of the 150 haz­ardous pes­ti­cides used in the U.S. are banned in at least one country.

For instance, phor­ate, the most used “extreme­ly haz­ardous” insec­ti­cide in the U.S. in 2017, is banned in 38 coun­tries, includ­ing Chi­na, Brazil and India. None of the “extreme­ly haz­ardous” pes­ti­cides can be used in the 27 nations of the Euro­pean Union.