It is real easy to blame farmers for pesticide use. So maybe it just might be of interest to see figures on who actually uses a few pesticides.
2,4 D -Ag use is 19% of the total use in the US.
Carbaryl -Ag use is 0% of the total use in the US.
Pendimethalin -Ag use is 54% of the total use in the US.
Trifluralin -Ag use is 75% of the total use in the US.
Malathion -Ag use is 0% of the total use in the US.
Roundup -Ag use is 90% of the total use in the US.
Soooo, if Ag uses are far from the total US use of pesticides who else uses them? The non Ag uses are split nearly dead equally between home owners and non Ag businesses or government. Home owner uses are primarily lawn and garden. The non Ag business and government uses range from golf courses to lawn care at business sites to railroad and public road right of ways, cities spraying mosquitos, etc.
You might notice I included roundup on this list and that is one case where most of the use is Ag use. Roundup is by far the safest chemical on this list and the most environmentally friendly chemical on this list. The surfactants in the roundup formulation are more toxic than the active ingredient glyphosate. If you do not know what a surfactant is think dishwashing liquid. Glyphosate is also, for practical purposes, instantly bound by soil particles thus preventing migration of this chemical. It is then rapidly degraded to carbon dioxide and phosphate fertilizer by the microbes in the soil. Thus there is zero concern about contamination of aquifers or streams unless you spray directly into the stream.
Anyone who thinks the US EPA is not doing a diligent job of protecting the consumer and environment from pesticides obviously has zero clue about what the pesticide registration process involves. Here is a link to a very abbreviated list of the registration requirements:
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/regulating/data_requirements.htm
When I left the field in 1986 it was estimated to take about $100 million worth of lab studies to obtain a provisional registration for any new pesticide molecule. Once you have a provisional registration you can expect to spend at least $10 million per year for the life of the pesticide. That kind of expense buys a lot of lab studies. Many hundreds of them. It has not gotten cheaper since 1986. Also, periodically the EPA requires reregistration of all pesticides. During that reregistration process a fair number of original studies are thrown out by the agency and must be repeated because science and understanding of the environment has progressed since the original registration.
You are far, far more likely to suffer adverse health effects from pills you get from your doctor than from any pesticide exposure providing the label directions on that pesticide are followed. The potential fines and jail time for not following label directions are enough to keep the Ag users very honest. Homeowners on the other hand cheat all the time. Even bee keepers cheat. I see repeated talk in here about use of oxalic acid for instance. That is illegal in the US and could result in either massive fines or jail time or even both.
The neonic lawsuit against EPA was mentioned earlier. Anyone who knows the registration process and US law knows that this law suit is going no place including I would hope those who filed the suit. Such suits are filed fairly often and never win. So why do they get filed? Simple. There is no intent to win them. They are simply part of the propaganda needed to help with fund raising. They cost very little to file and are very effective at inducing people to donate lots of money.