Key Staff: D. Tucker Slingerland, Elizabeth May, Melissa Miles, Louis Church

Funding Source(s): Supported by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Status: Completed Research Project

Project Details

Background: Unwanted agrichemicals pose a unique threat that many states now address with statewide collection programs. In New York this is done at the discretion of individual counties.

Methods: We compiled and analyzed registration inventories from five separate county- based pesticide collections located in three different agricultural regions. Telephone surveys of thirty-one of New York’s leading agricultural counties gathered information on their strategies for disposal of unwanted pesticides.

Results: The combined collections yielded 54,214 pounds of pesticides from 123 farms (441 lbs/farm). The most common active ingredients collected included older (and often discontinued) agents such as organochlorine (5355 lbs – 9.8%) and arsenic (3832 lbs – 7.1%) compounds, as well as more modern and commonly used active ingredients such as organophosphate pesticides (3200 lbs – 5.9%). Disposal costs ranged from $2.03 per pound to $2.86 per pound. Data from three collections indicated that 27% of the recovered pesticide (13,123 lbs) was stored in “unacceptable”, “leaky”, or “poor” containers. Of 31 agricultural counties, only 17 (55%) have hosted at least one farm pesticide collection event in the past. Planning for future collections is quite limited.

Conclusions: There is a potentially large amount of toxic chemicals, some in decaying containers, that poses a risk to soil and groundwater in the state. The planning of future collections in New York State is haphazard. Carefully designed pesticide collection projects can be effective and should be a priority for local and state health officials.