agriculture can vary considerably from year to year, depending on weather, pest out-
breaks, crop acreage, and economic factors such as pesticide costs and crop prices.
Whereas the quantity of pesticides used by farmers has fallen off slightly in recent
years, total expenditures on pesticides are still increasing.
During the 1960s, agricultural pesticide use was dominated by insecticides,
accounting for about half of all pesticides used. The quantity of insecticides applied
fell as the organochlorines (DDT, aldrin, and toxaphene) were replaced by pyre-
throids and other chemicals that require lower application rates. Today, 70 percent of
pesticides used are herbicides, with corn leading all other crops by a substantial mar-
gin in total pesticide use. Rice, potatoes, vegetables, and fruits, however, actually use
pesticides more intensively than corn and other crops. Minimum tillage practices are
being adopted by many farmers, reducing the need for machinery, labor, and energy
inputs, but increasing farming’s dependency on pesticides even more. Pesticide use
trends can vary markedly from one part of the country to another as farmers respond
to local pest problems and as crop production patterns vary.
Concerns about potential risks to health and the environment resulted in amend-
ments to FIFRA in 1972, increasing the stringency of health and safety data required
to support a pesticide registration. The EPA first banned the usage of some organo-
chlorine pesticides for agricultural purposes in the 1970s, and has since imposed use
limitations on many other pesticides. The amendments also required that all existing
pesticides be reregistered using current health and environmental standards. Chemical
companies have responded to these regulatory pressures by marketing new chemicals
that are thought to be less harmful to humans and the environment, or less likely to
migrate from farm fields to contaminate groundwater and surface water.Schools and PesticidesSafeguarding children’s health while at school is a priority for parents, teachers, school
administrators, lawmakers, and clinicians. Yet children are continually and unknowingly
exposed to toxic chemicals while in and around school buildings. Substantial scientific
evidence indicates that children are at risk for diseases as a result of these exposures.
Despite the hazards to children and the environment, pesticides have become a
preferred approach to controlling pest problems in many schools and school districts.
Toxic chemicals are being used on school athletic fields, shrub beds, parking lots,
tracks, play areas, and in cafeterias, classrooms, gymnasiums, and restrooms. Too of-
ten pesticides are applied by unlicensed personnel, or applied on a calendar basis
whether pests are present or not.
In general, research demonstrates that pesticide poisoning can lead to poor per-
formance on tests involving intellectual functioning, academic skills, abstract reason-
ing, flexibility of thought, and motor skills. Other areas affected include memory
disturbances and inability to focus attention, reduced perceptual speed, and deficits
in intelligence, reaction time, and manual dexterity. Increased anxiety and emotional
problems have also been reported.10 | Pesticides