1998-1999 Pesticide Market Estimates: Usage (Page 3)

3.7  Most Commonly Used U.S. Conventional Pesticide Active Ingredients in the Non-Agricultural Market Sectors

Tables 3.7a and 3.7b show the ten most commonly used conventional pesticide active ingredients in the two non-agricultural sectors (home & garden and industry/commercial/government) in 1999 and 1997. In both sectors, 2,4-D was the most used active ingredient, with between seven and nine million pounds used in the home and garden sector (see Table 3.7a), and between 17 and 20 million pounds used in the industry/commercial/
government sector (see Table 3.7b). Six of the top ten in the home and garden sector are herbicides and four are insecticides. Six of the top ten in the industry/commercial/government sector are herbicides, two are fungicides, and two are insecticides. As indicated in the note to Table 3.7b, due to the fact that some applicators apply pesticide in both markets, there may be some usage reported in one market that may have occurred in the other. The rankings rely on the estimated amount used of conventional pesticides in the non-agricultural sector taken from proprietary EPA databases.

3.8  U.S. Organophosphate Insecticide Amount Used

Table 3.8a shows the total amount of organophosphate insecticide used in 1980, 1985, and annually since 1990. The top ten active ingredients in this pesticide class include malathion, chlorpyrifos, terbufos, diazinon, methyl-parathion, phorate, acephate, azinphos-methyl, phosmet, and dimethoate (see Table 3.8b). Since the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996, this class of conventional pesticides has been a primary focus of EPA reregistration activities. For more information on the active ingredients included in this pesticide class and their reregistration and registration status, go to the Office of Pesticide Programs Web site at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/.

The amount of organophosphate insecticides used has declined 30% since 1980, from an estimated 131 million pounds in 1980 to 91 million pounds in 1999. Since 1980, however, organophosphate usage as a percent of total insecticide usage has increased, from 58% in 1980 to 72% in 1999. The increase in usage in 1999 was due mainly to the increased amount of malathion used as part of the USDA-sponsored Boll Weevil Eradication Program. Malathion’s use in this program has increased substantially over the past few years as the program has expanded to include most of the major cotton producing areas of the U.S. Additional information on this USDA program can be found on the USDA Web site http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/weevil/ . The estimates of organophosphate insecticide usage rely on the estimated amount used and changes in the amount used of organophosphates from public and proprietary EPA databases.