The Negative Effect of Pesticides on the Environment

969 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: effects of pesticides essay

The Negative Effect of Pesticides on the Environment

America the Beautiful! So why are we destroying it everyday with the use of pesticides? It has been proven that pesticides have affects on it's surrounding, although made to improve earths resources, they typically take there negative effect on the environment in time. Pesticides affect more than the environment; they also affect the animals and humans living in the environment. There are alternative, to this major problem but, we as the caretakers of earth must act fast. In the following paper I'm going to share with you what pesticides are. I'll tell you why they are not safe to use and some of the affects of pesticides. Last, I will talk about some new alternatives there are instead of using pesticides.

Pesticides are toxic chemicals that poison the earth and its environment. Pesticides main use is to kill pests that destroy food crops. They are also used in forests, lakes, city parks, lawns, hospitals, schools, and homes. There are five types of pesticides; insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides. Insecticides kill insects, herbicides manage weeds, fungicides control mold and mildew, and rodenticides kill rodents. Pesticides are also found in a large range of products from shampoo to paper. "Pesticides may be found wherever we live and work, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, and in the food we eat"(Mott & Snyder 5).

Why are pesticides not safe to use, and what are there affects? Pesticides have many affects on the world today. Pesticides affect the environment in two different ways, It affects the water we drink and the soils we plant our crops in. Pesticides also affect the food we eat. Not only can pesticides be detected i...

... middle of paper ...

... that we owe it to them and ourselves to stop the use of pesticides.

Bibliography:

Mott, Lawrie, and Karen Snyder. Pesticide Alert. San Fancisco, Sierra Club Books,1987

Ready, Tinker. "Shock Treatments may Zappesticides". News & Observer 15

July 1997:1b

Regenstein, Lewis. America the Poisoned. Washington D.C., Acropolis Books Ltd. 1982

Avery, Dennis T., Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic. Indicnapolis: Hudsin Institute, 2000

Mandel, Mitch. "Farm Seeds Soaked in Pesticides" Organic Gardening July/August 2000:14

Mott, Lawrie, and Karen Snyder. Pesticide Alert. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, 1987

Ready, Tinker. "Shock Treatments May Zap Pesticides." News &Observer 15 July 1997:1B

Regenstein, Lewis. America the Poisoned. Washington D.C., Acropolis Books Ltd. 1982

Rock, Andrea. "Toxiville" Ladies Home Journal Sept. 1999:106-9, 114-16

Show More
Related

  • Pesticides In Ground Water and Drinking Water

    369 Words  | 1 Pages

    What is a pesticide?A pesticide is a chemical substance used to kill pests, especially insects. A pesticide is also refered to as a biocide. Most pesticides are applied in spray form but occasionaly you will see pesticides that are in powder or pellet form. Pesticides are used on a variety of things, anything from crops like corn, barley, and wheat, to plants like petunias, marigolds, and rhodadendrons, which are usually found in small gardens greenhouses, and even in your backyard.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Fables For Tomorrow And The Clan Of One-Breasted Women

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two essays read by the class, “Fables for Tomorrow” and “The Clan of One-Breasted Women”, target the idea that chemical compounds have an impact on nature. They make it a priority to get their points across that limiting pesticides and chemical compounds will help make America, and other places around the world a better place. They provide very educational messages in getting their points across about the dangerous roles the pesticides play in the world today. Humans and the government cause this through authorization of plenty of the events going on in the environment. Both of the authors, who are female activists for the environment, focus on chemical compounds causing diseases and harm to the environment.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Pesticides

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sure farmers may have a big fuel bill at the end of spring for having to go out and spray pesticides. Spraying pesticides doesn’t waste the farmer’s time, it just wastes their money that they use to pay for the expensive pesticides. Pesticides are beneficial to farmers, and are a farmer’s best friend. The pesticides take care of weeds, pests, and diseases. Pesticides kill the weeds, diseases, and pests. They are a farmer’s right hand man because it saves them from having to go out and pull weeds by hand. The pesticide business is a fifty million dollar business (Pros and Cons of Pesticides). I think pesticides are a great thing because they save people’s lives by getting rid of the diseases that can get in foods, and they get rid of all the back breaking work for agriculturists.

    Read More

  • Organic vs. Conventional Foods

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Pesticides." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 18 July 2005. Web. 20 May 2011. .

    Read More

  • Pesticides Research Paper

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... book Silent Spring By Rachel Carson, she talks about after the glory days of the pesticides this problem was developing. this was getting worse. In the U.S., because of pest that have evolved, farmers were losing about seven percent of their crops. Since the 1980s, some 13 percent of crops are being lost, and more pesticides are being used (PBS). Since the pests are evolving, farmers are starting to use higher doses of the pesticide if the traditional dosage does not work. Every time a human uses a pesticide, the bugs evolve a little. the bugs can not help this because it is the process of evolution, it is the cycle of life. Because pest evolution has become such a widespread problem farmers and gardeners are starting to use natural pesticides on their crops and gardens. They might even lure the pest with a meal that is more tasty than the vulnerable crop.

    Read More

  • The Obligation to Endure

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Civilization began with agriculture, and agriculture continues to be an integral part of our lives. Civilization brought knowledge, knowledge brought technology, and technology brought chemicals and pesticides to “improve” our world. “The Obligation to Endure” is an excerpt from Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” a passionate and masterful work on the results of civilization’s efforts to control pests and insects. These effects include destruction of the environment, alteration of gene structures in plants and animals, water contamination, and an upset of nature’s delicate balance. This article is an impassioned plea to the world to understand the threat and demand the information necessary to make an informed consent on use of these deadly substances.

    Read More

  • Water Pollution in America

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pesticides and herbicides are toxins that are used to kill of unwanted animals and plants. These may be collected by rainwater runoff and carried into steams, rivers, lakes, and e...

    Read More

  • Pesticide Runoff from Agriculture

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many things that enter our waterways that we have to clean out. One of the worst things is pesticides. They not only contaminate our water, but they are harmful to animals. It enters our water sources by seeping through the soil to groundwater or entering streams as surface run-off. Farmers and other workers try to keep our water safe from pesticides, but it is a very hard and stressful job. Let’s take a look at the ways that pesticides enter our water and also some possible solutions for this problem.

    Read More

  • Pesticides Affecting Bee Populations

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are billions of pounds of pesticides that are produced annually, despite the research showing how dangerous this overuse is. In fact, “recent research has documented the fact that certain pesticides use may actually increase pest problems” (Pojman, 2017, p. 800). This further demonstrates how pesticides are generally harmful rather than helpful. There are multiple organisms which pesticides affect, including poisoning humans, domestic animals, bees, while also causing a loss in crops, reducing populations of natural enemies, and growing pesticide resistance. Specifically, in the case of bee poisonings, the overall death of these bees results in the loss of 135 million dollars each year. There is also evidence that recently there have been more bee poisonings since 1962, since highly toxic insecticides are being used, while greater amounts of insecticides are being dispensed. Pesticides are also deployed through aircraft, allowing drifting problems. Additionally, insecticides are used by many populations other than farmers, including “golf-course managers, gardeners, and other landowners” to simply deal with their daily unwanted pests that will damage their flowers and crops (Williams, 2014, p. 33). If these insecticides are sprayed near a bee’s habitat or nest site, they will be harmed either immediately or subtly in regards to their behavior. Even worse, there are certain pesticides which treat seeds and thus allow it to be present in the plant’s tissue. This means that bees are being exposed to pesticides through pollen and nectar. In a study by Guseman, the goal was to discover which combinations of compounds were causing bees the most harm, so that a solution could be found. According to the study, bees are exposed to potentially dangerous pesticides in two distinct ways, through “in-hive miticides to control parasites and through the foraging activity of adult bees who collect pollen

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Pesticides

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1952, India was the first country to introduce pesticides to the world. Over sixty years ago, the world population stood at approximately 2.7 billion. While today the world population stands at over 7.4 billion (worldometers, 2016). Due to the upturn in global population, pesticides play a crucial role in the ability to produce adequate food to sustain our ever growing population. Pesticides not only carry multiple benefits for public health, they also help to boost our economy. However, many argue that the potential health risks associated with residue left on produce outweighs any of the benefits pesticide usage generates. In contradiction to anti pesticide theorist, this paper will outline the stakeholders in pesticides, and the safety

    Read More

  • What Are The Benefits Of Gardening Essay

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. Insecticides are generally the most acutely toxic class of pesticides, but herbicides can also pose risks to non-target organisms.

    Read More

  • Hazardous Chemicals in the Home

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Household chemicals were created for a reason, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be harmful to your health. For instance, pesticides used on household lawns are now proven to cause neurological disorders. These include depression, mania, learning disorders, A.D.H.D, immune system defects and memory problems. Not proven yet, but the same chemicals play a big part in leading research for the c...

    Read More

  • Rodenticides Research Paper

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    An owl lies motionless on the ground. A necropsy of the dead bird reveals that it had slowly and horrifically internally bled to death after consuming a poisoned rat. Rodenticides are to blame for the owl’s death. Studies show that humans have used many forms of pesticides, one of them being rodenticides, to kill pests (“Rodenticides: Background & Hazards”). The United States, India, Argentina, and the Arctic are places where this problem is most impactful, as there is an increasing amount of pesticide usage in these areas (“Around the World”). These areas produce large amounts of pesticides, which can cause dangerous effects on the environment (“Around the World”). These pesticides should be replaced with natural predators, such as owls. According

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Pesticides

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    As time has progressed, there has always been an overarching need for high amounts of crop production throughout the world. With the rapid rate of population growth, the need for crops and other sources of nutrients is only increasing. In order to meet these high demands and increase yields, farmers and other agriculturalists have started implementing the use of pesticides. These chemical mixtures are being used in order to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pests from destroying growing crops. However, using pesticides on crops can create massive amounts of pollution, negatively affect an individual’s health, and can spark biodiversity loss within an ecosystem. According to Michael C.R. Alavanja, “Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used within the United States (US) each year and approximately 5.6 billion pounds are used worldwide”. With all this in mind, it is clear that pesticides should not be made available to farmers and agriculturalists, and should

    Read More

  • Pesticides

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pesticides are contaminating the Earth’s water supplies. There are seventeen pesticides found in twenty-three state’s water supplies right now. Scientists at Cornell University conclude that 99% of pesticides miss the intended source and find their way into the water, air and soil. Most of the pollution isn’t strong enough to create an immediate impact on humans so the wildlife is the primary target to these contaminates. Animals such as the European Starling birds are constantly being tested and found that they are greatly affected both behaviorally and psychologically.

    Read More

More about The Negative Effect of Pesticides on the Environment

Open Document