What is the extent of the problem of pesticides in the environment?
Every year in the United States, 1.1 billion pounds of active pesticide ingredients are released into the environment. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 1991, U.S. manufacturers exported 390 million pounds of pesticides. The uncontrolled use of pesticides over the past 50 years has led to the contamination of many of our hydrologic systems. Pesticide contamination of ground water is an issue of national importance because ground water is used for drinking water by about 50% of the population. How does Pesticide contamination occur? The “pathways” of human exposure to pesticides are numerous. The three main places where pesticide water contamination occurs: • Ground water: Non-degraded pesticides migrate to groundwater of which 95 percent of the rural population relies for drinking. • Surface water that provides 50 percent of the drinking water for the urban population. • Atmosphere, which, also, is a component of the hydrologic cycle. Pesticides can rea
