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 al/EPA's
Department of Pesticide Regulation has released 1997 pesticide
use statistics that show a 3.5 percent increase in pounds applied
from 1996, and a slight decrease from 1995.
 Reported
pesticide use in California totaled 204,779,717 pounds in 1997,
compared to 197,828,481 pounds in 1996 and 205,133,950 pounds
in 1995. Reported use includes production agriculture and post-harvest
fumigation of crops, structural pest control, landscape maintenance
and other uses. Exempt from reporting requirements and therefore
not included in these totals are home and garden use of pesticides,
and most industrial and institutional uses.
Summaries
of pesticide use in 1997 -- categorized by chemical and crop
or site -- are available on DPR's website: www.cdpr.ca.gov/whatnew.htm.
(The 1996 pesticide use summaries, released in May, are also
available on the website.) And DPR has supplemented the use data
with a new study published online: Pesticide Use Analysis
and Trends from 1991 to 1996. The study examines major crops,
pest problems and high-use chemicals. It also analyzes trends
in pesticides where use is highest, as measured in pounds, number
of applications and acres treated.
"We need
to reduce the use of the high-hazard pesticides, and this kind
of analysis will help us understand what factors drive their
use," said DPR Director Paul E. Helliker. "We can also
examine the use of reduced-risk alternatives, and the crops,
regions and situations where they are used most effectively."
The analysis
determined that 31 pesticides account for 85 percent of pounds
used, 52 percent of all applications, and 50 percent of the acres
treated in 1996. The same pesticides also accounted for most
of the increased use from 1991 to 1996; only four pesticides
accounted for 68 percent of all pounds applied. The study underscores
the fact that one year of data does not signify a trend. Pesticide
use varies from year to year, depending upon pest problems, weather,
crops and other factors discussed in DPR's analysis.
Helliker noted
that pounds applied is only one of several measures of pesticide
use. "DPR's goal is to encourage the use of reduced-risk
pest management tools -- including chemicals -- which have the
least impact on the environment," he said. "Some reduced-risk
chemicals are used at higher rates, so pounds applied may not
provide an accurate measure of our progress."
DPR compiles
yearly pesticide use reports from the most extensive database
of its kind in the nation.
"The
Department deferred release of the 1996 and 1997 pesticide use
reports while developing software programs to provide more accurate
data to the public," said Helliker. "We expect to bring
the schedule of our annual pesticide use reports up to date with
the release of the 1998 data in August."
Some key facts
from the 1997 pesticide use reports:
- Production agriculture accounted for 189,796,122
pounds applied (with an additional 1,608,996 pounds used for
post-harvest commodity treatment) compared to 182,375,369 pounds
(plus 1,847,859 post-harvest) in 1996 and 187,577,922 pounds
(plus 3,770,169 post-harvest) in 1995.
- About one-third of the total pounds applied
in 1997 involved sulfur. A natural fungicide favored by organic
and conventional growers alike, sulfur was also the most-used
pesticide from 1991 to 1996.
- The top five crops for pounds of pesticide
used were wine grapes (27.1 million pounds); table and raisin
grapes (26.9 million pounds); almonds (14.5 million pounds);
cotton (13.4 million pounds); and oranges (11.5 million pounds).
Reported
pesticide applications make up about 30 percent of the pesticides
sold in the state each year. In 1997, there were 653.9 million
pounds of pesticide active ingredients sold in California, compared
to 699.6 million pounds in 1996. These sales figures include
not only chemicals whose use must be reported, but also pesticides
not subject to reporting requirements. This includes pesticides
used in homes and gardens and in industrial and institutional
settings, such as disinfectants and other antimicrobial products.
Among the latter is chlorine used for municipal water treatment.
Chlorine products typically account for more than a third of
the pesticide active ingredients sold in California. Approximately
10,500 branded products that contained about 800 different active
ingredients were registered for sale in California in 1997.
Summaries
of the 1997 pesticide use data are available free online or for
a nominal charge on hard copy or diskette. Two summary versions
of the data (one indexed by pesticides, the other by crops) include
number of applications, acreage or units treated, and pounds
of pesticide used. The 300-page summaries may be ordered in hard
copy ($10 each) or on diskette ($2.50). To order, send payment
to: Cashier, California Department of Pesticide Regulation, 830
K Street, Sacramento 95814-3510. A complete data set of the 2.5
million-plus individual 1997 pesticide use reports is also available
on CD ROM at a nominal cost. For information about the CD-ROM,
call the DPR Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management Branch
at 916/324-4100. 
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California County Pesticide
Use Data Summary
Total pounds of all pesticide
active ingredients (AIs) reported used in each California county
in 1997. Data from DPR's Pesticide Use Report. (Computer analysis
used to identify and remove probable errors.)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| County |
Lbs A.I. |
|
County |
Lbs A.I. |
| Alameda |
273,260 |
|
Placer |
362,619 |
| Alpine |
121 |
|
Plumas |
2,743 |
| Amador |
134,703 |
|
Riverside |
4,339,486 |
| Butte |
3,738,988 |
|
Sacramento |
3,730,460 |
| Calaveras |
46,626 |
|
San Benito |
609,220 |
| Colusa |
2,397,875 |
|
San Bernardino |
527,074 |
| Contra Costa |
583,426 |
|
San Diego |
1,858,600 |
| Del Norte |
246,137 |
|
San Francisco |
24,607 |
| El Dorado |
126,461 |
|
San Joaquin |
11,882,252 |
| Fresno |
35,110,883 |
|
San Luis Obispo |
2,431,078 |
| Glenn |
2,683,853 |
|
San Mateo |
421,002 |
| Humboldt |
60,710 |
|
Santa Barbara |
3,875,940 |
| Imperial |
8,484,339 |
|
Santa Clara |
740,533 |
| Inyo |
5,228 |
|
Santa Cruz |
1,727,669 |
| Kern |
25,658,041 |
|
Shasta |
343,527 |
| Kings |
6,678,449 |
|
Sierra |
17,637 |
| Lake |
1,278,845 |
|
Siskiyou |
440,817 |
| Lassen |
39,238 |
|
Solano |
2,099,728 |
| Los Angeles |
2,746,429 |
|
Sonoma |
3,899,566 |
| Madera |
8,564,020 |
|
Stanislaus |
5,840,179 |
| Marin |
61,685 |
|
Sutter |
3,970,538 |
| Mariposa |
29,746 |
|
Tehama |
1,047,197 |
| Mendocino |
2,087,056 |
|
Trinity |
9,358 |
| Merced |
9,180,264 |
|
Tulare |
18,169,446 |
| Modoc |
337,467 |
|
Tuolumne |
54,349 |
| Mono |
802 |
|
Ventura |
6,767,975 |
| Monterey |
9,102,605 |
|
Yolo |
3,380,169 |
| Napa |
2,842,708 |
|
Yuba |
1,790,719 |
| Nevada |
83,289 |
|
|
|
| Orange |
1,831,976 |
|
Total |
204,779,717 |
| Note:
Included in the table above are agricultural applications and
commercial applications of pesticides including structural fumigation,
pest control, and turf applications. Not included are uses not
subject to the reporting requirements, including home and garden
applications, and most industrial and institutional uses of pesticides. |
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