Economic and Environmental Costs of Pesticide Use

Approximately three million tons of pesticides are applied throughout the world each year[1] at a current purchase price of $29 billion[2]. These three million tons are comprised of roughly 1600 different chemicals [3]

. In 1995, sales of pesticides in the United States reached 625,000 tons of active ingredients and a conservatively estimated $6.7 billion[4]. Approximately 600 different types of pesticides are used annually in the U.S.[5].