Assessing Human Exposures to Pesticides

Human pesticide exposures occur as a consequence of their use or persistence in a variety of media including air, water, soil, plants and animals, especially as foods, and on inanimate objects. Annual pesticide use is measured in hundreds of millions of pounds of active ingredients, about 20% of that in production agriculture. California alone tallies about 500,000,000 lb (227,000,000 kg) and 80,000,000 lb (36,364,000 kg) in crop protection, the economic activity most commonly associated with pesticides. No other group of chemicals known for their toxicity is so extensively used as part of our attempt to maintain a balance of advantage over our competitors for food and fiber and vectors of disease.