Natural products as pesticides have been reviewed from several perspectives in the past, however no review has examined the impact of natural product and natural product-based pesticides as a function of new active ingredient registrations with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the US market. EPA registration details of new active ingredients for all conventional pesticide registrations and biopesticide registrations were compiled from the years 1997-2010. Conventional pesticide registrations and biopesticide registrations were examined both collectively and independently for all 277 new active ingredients (NAI) and subsequently categorized and sorted into four types: biological (B), natural product (NP), synthetic (S), and synthetic natural derived (SND). When examining conventional pesticides alone, S accounted for the majority of NAI registrations with 78.0% followed by SND with 14.7%, NP with 6.4%, and B with 0.9%. Biopesticides alone were dominated by NPs with 54.8% followed by B with 44.6%, SND with 0.6%, and 0% for S. When examining conventional pesticides and biopesticides combined, NP accounted for the majority of NAI registrations with 35.7% followed by S with 30.7%, B with 27.4%, and SND with 6.1%. Despite the common perception that natural products might not be the best source for NAIs as pesticides, when you look at both conventional and biopesticides collectively, and consider that NP, SND, and B all have origins from natural product research, one could argue that their combined impact on NAI registrations with the EPA from 1997 to 2010 account for 69.3% of said NAIs.

Natural products as sources for new pesticides

244th National Meeting (2012)

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