The review was mandated by a 1999 law creating a pesticide tracking system in Oregon. Use of the most toxic pesticides, including carcinogens, is alarmingly high in California.
Nobody knows, but stay tuned.
When Oregon's new program is up and running, we'll begin to have some answers. The Oregon Department of Agriculture will begin collecting pesticide use data statewide in 2002. In developing the details of the program, ODA enlisted the services of Oregon State University and Oregon Health Sciences University to research and analyze some key issues. OPEN called upon ODA to implement the scientists' recommendations for a pesticide tracking system that will be useful for better understanding how pesticides affect human health, water quality, and wild salmon. But it will be up to ODA to decide whether these needs are going to be met.