Uses

Chlorpyrifos is used as a pesticide in over a thousand different pesticide type products. It was the number one pesticide in the United States before it was banned.

Image from Ban Dursban

Dursban is the trade name for residential uses of Chlorpyrifos. Every year Dursban was applied in homes and businesses over 20 million times. Between 15 and 24 million pounds of Dursban alone were used every year. Dursban was most commonly used as a termite killer. Twenty-four percent of all of the Chlorpyrifos was used in termite killing products. Dursban was also used in homes for the prevention of ants and wasps. It was in products such as Real-Kill, Ortho, Spetracide, and Spectracide Pro.

Lorsban is the trade name for Chlorpyrifos in all agricultural uses. Around 20 million pounds of products containing Lorsban were used every year in farms around the country. They are used on over 20 million acres of crops. There are 3 main Chlorpyrifos formulations, they are a liquid with a concentration of 4 pounds per a gallon, a powder with a concentration of 50% and a granular with 15% concentration. Of the 10 million pounds of products containing Lorsban in the 15% granular form, 81% was used on corn and 11% on peanut crops. The powdered form and the liquid concentrate form are used on a much wider variety of products then the granular form is. They are mainly used on alfalfa, corn, cotton, soybean, wheat, and citrus fruits. These products are used to prevent mites, cutworms, fruitworms, other types of worms as well as other little pests.

All of the residential uses of Chlorpyrifos, most of which were sold under the trade name of Dursban, have been banned by the EPA. Some agricultural uses of Chlorpyrifos, sold under the trade name of Lorsban, are still permitted but have been more severely restricted. For more information on the banning of Chlorpyrifos and why it was banned click the hazards link on the left.