The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides
The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides
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DOI：
10.1186/s12940-019-0488-0
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发表时间：
2019-06-07
影响因子：
6
通讯作者：
Donley, Nathan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Donley, Nathan
背景美国、欧盟、巴西和中国是世界上四个最大的农业农药生产国和使用者。比较不同监管机构禁止或消除对人类和环境最具潜在危害的农药的倾向和能力，可以了解各国农药监管法律和监管的有效性。方法对美国、欧盟、巴西和中国等国500多种农业农药的批准状况进行鉴定，并进行国家间比较。结果欧盟、巴西和中国分别有72种、17种和11种农药在美国被批准用于户外农业用途或正在被完全淘汰。在2016年美国农业使用的农药中，3.22亿磅是欧盟禁止使用的农药，2600万磅是巴西禁止使用的农药，4000万磅是中国禁止使用的农药。欧盟禁用的农药占美国农业农药使用量的四分之一以上。在这三个国家中，至少有两个国家禁用的大部分农药在过去25年里在美国并没有明显减少，几乎所有的农药在过去10年中都保持不变或增加。结论许多在美国仍然广泛使用的农药，每年数千万到数亿磅的水平，已经在欧盟、中国和巴西被禁用或正在被逐步淘汰。在这些国家中至少有两个国家禁用的杀虫剂中，许多与美国的急性农药中毒有关，有些受到个别州的进一步限制。美国环境保护署(US EPA)近年来几乎放弃了非自愿取消农药的做法，使美国的农药取消在很大程度上需要得到受监管行业的同意。
BackgroundThe United States of America (USA), European Union (EU), Brazil and China are four of the largest agricultural producers and users of agricultural pesticides in the world. Comparing the inclination and ability of different regulatory agencies to ban or eliminate pesticides that have the most potential for harm to humans and the environment can provide a glimpse into the effectiveness of each nation's pesticide regulatory laws and oversight.MethodsThe approval status of more than 500 agricultural pesticides was identified in the USA, EU, Brazil and China and compared between nations. The amount of pesticides that were used in the USA and banned in these other nations was compiled and linear regression was used to identify trends in use.ResultsThere are 72, 17, and 11 pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural applications in the USA that are banned or in the process of complete phase out in the EU, Brazil, and China, respectively. Of the pesticides used in USA agriculture in 2016, 322 million pounds were of pesticides banned in the EU, 26 million pounds were of pesticides banned in Brazil and 40 million pounds were of pesticides banned in China. Pesticides banned in the EU account for more than a quarter of all agricultural pesticide use in the USA. The majority of pesticides banned in at least two of these three nations have not appreciably decreased in the USA over the last 25years and almost all have stayed constant or increased over the last 10years.ConclusionsMany pesticides still widely used in the USA, at the level of tens to hundreds of millions of pounds annually, have been banned or are being phased out in the EU, China and Brazil. Of the pesticides banned in at least two of these nations, many have been implicated in acute pesticide poisonings in the USA and some are further restricted by individual states. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has all but abandoned its use of non-voluntary cancellations in recent years, making pesticide cancellation in the USA largely an exercise that requires consent by the regulated industry.