Oregon's Pesticide Right-to-Know Law and You

Pesticides -- including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides -- are chemical and biological agents purposefully introduced into the environment to kill or damage living organisms. These are toxic substances used on our homes, schools, parks, roadsides, offices, forests, farmlands, and elsewhere.

Millions of pounds of pesticides are applied in urban and rural areas each year in Oregon. Although agriculture accounted for an estimated 77% of U.S. pesticide use in 1995, other use was also significant. A nationwide survey of home and garden use reported in 1992 that about 76% of households used insecticides, and an estimated 85% had at least one pesticide in storage.

This widespread use of pesticides pollutes our waters and threatens public health. Fortunately, Oregon established a program to track which pesticides are used where, when, and in what amounts.

Over the past decade, the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides and allies have waged a successful coalition campaign to establish a system to track pesticide use in our state. In the spirit of public disclosure, this coalition is called OPEN, the Oregon Pesticide Education Network.

To date, over 70 organizations have supported tracking pesticide use. These Oregon groups represent drinking water providers, health professionals, labor, children's interests, and conservationists, among others.

As a result of this broad coalition and strong public pressure, the 1999 Legislature passed a bill requiring disclosure of pesticide use. The Oregon Department of Agriculture began collecting data in January 2007.

The Value of Tracking Pesticides Use

Oregon needs to know which pesticides are being used, and where and when they are applied, so that we can best protect our health and environment from these toxic chemicals. Making detailed information available will help to:
 

Protect Public Health. Pesticides are linked to a range of health problems, including cancer and birth defects. Without accurate information on the pesticides people are exposed to, health researchers find it very difficult to understand the relationship between exposure and illness.

Safeguard Our Children's Future. Fetuses, infants, and children are more vulnerable than adults to the health threats posed by toxins. To protect the next generation, we need to know which chemicals our children are being exposed to in the food they eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe.

Protect Our Water. Recent studies have found 50 different pesticides in water tested for 86 chemicals throughout the Willamette River Basin. The herbicide atrazine was found in 99% of the samples. Site-specific data on pesticide use will help identify water supplies at the greatest risk of contamination, and inform realistic protection efforts.

Save Our Wild Salmon. Pesticides have not only killed salmon directly, but low levels of pesticides in salmon habitat can also have profound, delayed effects that threaten survival. Real-world data on pesticide use in our watersheds can be mapped with locations of salmon populations to address pesticide impacts.

Create Healthy Workplaces. People are exposed to pesticides in a range of jobs, from office work to flower shops to road repair. Farm workers and pesticide applicators suffer the most. Pesticide use reporting can help to prevent health problems associated with exposure in the workplace.

Make Better Decisions about Pests. Tracking pesticide use will create non-regulatory incentives for the adoption of pest management strategies that are better for the environment and the bottom line.

Secure Your Right to Know. Toxic pesticides are widely used in our communities, usually without our knowledge. Everyone has a right to know about the pesticides used around us.

For more information about NCAP's Pesticide Use Reporting program, acode(AT)pesticide.org

Selected NCAP materials on pesticide use reporting:

OPEN Files - an action kit for educating Oregonians about why we need reliable information on pesticides

• Oregon's New Pesticide Right-to-Know Law and You[PDF 292 K]
• Pesticide Use and Your Health [PDF 216 K]
• Your Drinking Water and Pesticide Use [PDF 232 K]
• Protecting Our Watersheds from Pesticides [PDF 200 K]
• Protecting Oregon's Groundwater from Pesticides [PDF 388 K]

OPEN Reports

• Keep on Tracking: Movement for Pesticide Use Reporting Advances (June 2000) [PDF 416K]
• Let's Get Together: Synergistic Effects of Multi-State Coalitions (June 2000) [PDF 280K]
• Lethal Lawns: Diazinon Use Threatens Salmon Survival (June2000) [PDF 1.6MB]
• Tap Gap: Pesticides in Oregon's Drinking Water (July 2000)
• Tracking Progress: Alternatives to Pesticides on the Farm (April 1999)[PDF 2.4MB]
• Diminishing Returns: Salmon Decline and Pesticides (February 1999)
  • Executive Summary (1999, 7 pgs., $3) [PDF 768K]
  • Full Report (1999, 52 pgs., $7) [PDF 1.9MB]
• Pesticides & Children's Health: What Every Parent Should Know (September 1998) [PDF 400K]
• Altering Oregon's Destiny: Hormone Disrupting Pesticides in the Willamette River (October 1997) [PDF 172K]

Benefits of pesticide tracking to pesticide users

Key data for a good pesticide tracking system

OTHER SITES offering information about pesticide use reporting are:

California Pesticide Use Reporting program

Oregon's Pesticide Use Reporting System: Analytical Review (2000)

Hooked on Poison: Pesticide Use in California, 1991-1998 (2000)