Pesticides

Abstract

A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances used to control living organisms that cause damage or economic loss, or transmit or produce disease, including such animals as insects or mice, unwanted plants, microorganisms such as those causing plant diseases, or viruses. Early pesticides were simple, often toxic inorganic compounds having a broad spectrum of activity, and often applied indiscriminately at high rates. Newer crop protection agents are generally complex organic chemicals, which may bind to a specific enzyme recoptor. Some commercial pesticides are biological agents. Pesticide use in the United States is 57% herbicides, 23% insecticides, 12% fungicides, and 8% other, including household disinfectants, repellents, rodenticides, etc. About 90% of pesticides are produced by 20 companies, 9 located in Europe, 6 in the United States, and 5 in Japan. All pesticides produced and used in the United States must be reviewed and registered by the U.S. EPA. Extensive studies on chemistry, residues in treated food commodities, environmental fate, and toxicity to laboratory animals and wildlife, to demonstrate that proposed uses do not cause undue harm to humans or the environment, are required. The estimated cost for developing a new pesticide is \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amssymb}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${{\$}70\times 10^{6}}$\end{document} over 10–12 years. Problems for the agrochemical industry and for government regulators include the lack of harmonization of study requirements in developed countries, and public perception that pesticides are not adequately tested and are inherently harmful.