Source: Pimentel, David. 1995. Amounts of pesticides reaching the target pests: environmental impacts and ethics. J. Agric. Environ. Ethics 8:17-29.

Approximately 2.5 million tons of pesticides are applied to crops every year, but less than 0.1% actually reach the target pests. The excess pesticide spreads into the environment where it can detrimentally affect human health through the contamination of soil, water, and the atmosphere. The current management of pesticides threatens the quality and health of the environment and is an ethical issue that farmers must confront. The author maintains that the major reason for pesticides not reaching target pests is poor application methods. Under the conventional method of aircraft application with ultra-low volume spray, only about 25% of the spray reaches the target area. However, this method is popular because about five times as much pesticide can be distributed per flight. The droplets must be very small to reach the target area. Thus, even under ideal weather conditions the pesticide can easily spread to surrounding areas. Ground application of pesticides with air-blast sprayers is more effective at reaching target pests than aircraft but still allows 35% of the pesticide to drift away. Crops require very little pesticide to kill pests and therefore the author concludes that with better application, the amount of pesticide currently used could be reduced by 99%. Using new poisoned insect bait is one method that will improve application efficiency and reduce the threat of contamination to humans and the environment.

Abstract author: Rob Alvarado, 10 November 1998.

SUSAG Abstracts: Go back to the SUSAG Abstracts search page.