It's hard to imagine counting up to a billion of anything. But that's the approximate weight--in pounds--of pesticides used in the United States each year.
And it gets more interesting: close to a third of those pesticides, in weight, were substances that are illegal in Europe. The United States continues to allow the use of pesticides banned in other countries.
Recently published research compares American pesticide use and regulation with that of Europe, China, and Brazil. And it finds us lagging behind all of them in banning pesticides.
Nathan Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity is the author of the study. He joins us with details.