Title: Pesticides 101 | Pesticide Action Network
Headings: Pesticides are used all around us, in homes and gardens, schools, parks and agricultural fields.
Pesticides are used all around us, in homes and gardens, schools, parks and agricultural fields.
What are pesticides?
What is the “pesticide treadmill?”
Which rules govern pesticides?
Exposure & impacts

Content: Overall, pesticide resistance is increasing. In the 1940s, U.S. farmers lost seven percent of their crops to pests. Since the 1980s, loss has increased to 13 percent, even though more pesticides are being used. Between 500 and 1,000 insect and weed species have developed pesticide resistance since 1945. Rachel Carson clearly predicted the treadmill phenomenon in her 1962 book Silent Spring. There is another way. Agroecology is the science behind sustainable farming. This powerful approach combines scientific inquiry with place-based knowledge and experimentation, emphasizing approaches that are knowledge-intensive, low cost, ecologically sound and practical. Home use of pesticides — which on a per acre basis outpaces use on farms by a ratio of 10 to 1 — puts families across the North America at unnecessary risk. Alternatives are available to manage home, lawn and garden pests without toxic pesticides.