Oregon released a report giving some details into the use of pesticides and herbicides within the state. The report is a starting point for understanding the economic, environmental, and social benefits/costs of using these types of soil amendments.

"The bulk of the pesticides, about 85 percent, were used for agriculture, from potato fields to nurseries to Christmas tree farms. Two of the top five chemicals applied -- the fumigants metam-sodium and 1,3-dichoropropene -- are listed as cancer causing in California's reporting system."...

"The top pesticide, at 17 million pounds, was metam-sodium, a soil fumigant often used before planting potatoes, the Northwest's most pesticide-intensive crop, to penetrate the ground and extinguish most soil life. Other high use pesticides, 1,3-dichloropropene and methyl bromide, are also fumigants."

Metam-sodium (Vapam) and 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone) are used widely with some of Washington's most valuable crops - potatoes, berries, and flower bulbs. A major priority for IWF is to help commercialize alternatives to these problematic chemicals. Residual meals resulting from oil seed crushing for biodiesel may prove to be a viable path to this end.