Abstract
Agricultural producers and public health authorities apply pesticides to control pests that damage crops and carry diseases. Due to the toxic nature of most pesticides, they are regulated by governments. Regulatory provisions require pesticides to be registered and restrictions operate to safeguard human health and the environment. Yet pesticides used near surface waters pose dangers to non-target species and drinking water supplies leading some governments to regulate discharges of pesticides under pollution discharge permits. The dual registration and discharge permitting provisions are burdensome. In the United States, agricultural interest groups are advancing new legislation that would exempt pesticide residues from water permitting requirements. An analysis of the dangers posed by pesticide residues in drinking water leads to a conclusion that both pesticide registration and pollutant discharge permitting provisions are needed to protect human health and aquatic species.
Highlights
Food production relies heavily on the use of pesticides for growing crops and raising animals.Data suggest that approximately 2.36 billion kg of pesticides are used each year in the World [1]
Countries have enacted pesticide registration laws to regulate the use of pesticides through registration programs based on generalized cost-benefit analyses using data submitted by the registrant
Pesticides deposited into surface water bodies pose hazards to the environment and public health
Summary
Food production relies heavily on the use of pesticides for growing crops and raising animals. A contemporary issue is whether the use of pesticides accompanied by the deposition of residues into surface waters should be regulated by water quality control provisions These deposits may occur during aerial applications of pesticides to control agricultural and forest pests as well as disease-carrying mosquitoes [11]. Interest groups representing agricultural and public health applicators object to the requirement of a pollutant discharge permit because securing a permit is time consuming and costly In response to these arguments, interest groups in the United States have proposed legislation that says the pollutant discharge permitting provisions for water quality do not apply for applications of registered pesticides. Applications of pesticides to eliminate pests carrying diseases and damaging crops could proceed without a pollutant discharge permit despite deposits of pesticide residues in surface waters.
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