The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides

Abstract

Background: The United States of America (USA), European Union (EU), Brazil and China are four of the largest agricultural producers and users of agricultural pesticides in the world. Comparing the inclination and ability of different regulatory agencies to ban or eliminate pesticides that have the most potential for harm to humans and the environment can provide a glimpse into the effectiveness of each nation's pesticide regulatory laws and oversight.

Methods: The approval status of more than 500 agricultural pesticides was identified in the USA, EU, Brazil and China and compared between nations. The amount of pesticides that were used in the USA and banned in these other nations was compiled and linear regression was used to identify trends in use.

Results: There are 72, 17, and 11 pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural applications in the USA that are banned or in the process of complete phase out in the EU, Brazil, and China, respectively. Of the pesticides used in USA agriculture in 2016, 322 million pounds were of pesticides banned in the EU, 26 million pounds were of pesticides banned in Brazil and 40 million pounds were of pesticides banned in China. Pesticides banned in the EU account for more than a quarter of all agricultural pesticide use in the USA. The majority of pesticides banned in at least two of these three nations have not appreciably decreased in the USA over the last 25 years and almost all have stayed constant or increased over the last 10 years.

Conclusions: Many pesticides still widely used in the USA, at the level of tens to hundreds of millions of pounds annually, have been banned or are being phased out in the EU, China and Brazil. Of the pesticides banned in at least two of these nations, many have been implicated in acute pesticide poisonings in the USA and some are further restricted by individual states. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has all but abandoned its use of non-voluntary cancellations in recent years, making pesticide cancellation in the USA largely an exercise that requires consent by the regulated industry.

Keywords: Agriculture; Environmental Protection Agency; Pesticide; Regulation.

Fig. 1

The number of pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural use in the USA that are banned or being phased out in the European Union (EU), Brazil (BRA), China (CHN), at least one of the three (≥1), at least two of the three (≥2) or all 3

Fig. 2

Pesticides Used in the USA and Banned in at Least Two of Three Other Agricultural Nations. The first column gives the common pesticide name. The second column indicates whether the pesticide is on an international list of concern (W=World Health Organization (WHO) “extremely” or “highly” hazardous pesticide [79]; R2 = Rotterdam Convention Annex III list, Recommended [73]; A = WHO “critically” or “highly” important antibiotics [53]). Columns 3–6 indicate the pesticide status in the European Union (EU), the United States of America (USA), China (CHN) or Brazil (BRA). 1 = Banned; 2 = In process of complete phase out; 3 = Approved; 4 = Not approved/voluntarily withdrawn; 0 = Not in database/unknown. Red = banned/phasing out; Green = approved; Orange = Not approved/unknown

Fig. 3

Trends in Use of Pesticides in the USA that are Banned in at Least Two of Three Other Agricultural Nations. a) Total pesticide use in the USA in pounds (lbs.) was plotted for each year between 1992 and 2016 for each of 13 pesticides that have been banned or are being phased out in at least two of the following places: the EU, China and Brazil. Each graph contains a linear trend line. b) Results of linear regression analyses that were conducted for each pesticide over the 25-year period. Data were log-transformed where indicated and the degrees of freedom (df) for each pesticide dataset equals 24 with the exception of dichlobenil (df = 23; the zero value for 2016 was removed before log transformation). Bold p-values were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Pesticides highlighted in yellow had a significant downward trend, pesticides highlighted in blue had a significant upward trend and those that were not highlighted had no significant change over time

Fig. 4

Number of Agricultural Pesticides Cancelled in the USA by Decade from 1970 to the Present. a) Table presenting the number of agricultural pesticides that were non-voluntarily (Non-V) or voluntarily (V) cancelled in the USA by decade. b) Graphic representation of table in a.