Environmental and Economic Costs of Pesticide Use

Abstract

The indirect environmental and economic costs associated with pesticide use are examined under the following headings: human health effects; animal poisonings and contaminated products; destruction of beneficial natural predators and parasites; pesticide resistance in pests; bee poisonings and reduced pollination; crop and crop product losses; groundwater and surface water contamination; fishery losses; wild birds; microorganisms and invertebrates; and government funds for pesticide-pollination control. It is concluded that if the full environmental and social costs of pesticide use could be measured as a whole, the perceived profitability of pesticides would be much reduced.