According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the United States (US) each year and approximately 5.6 billion pounds are used worldwide.” Do you enjoy being surrounded by chemicals everywhere you go on a daily basis? Pesticides can be found in your food, your backyard, and even in the water you drink. Luckily, there is an easy solution to this problem. Pesticides should not be put on crops due to the health issues, and environmental damage.
First, pesticides cause excessive amounts of health issues around the world. The World Health Organization says, “3 million people per year get pesticide poisoning, and 220,00 people die per year mostly in developing countries” (Lah). Acute toxicity
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Acute toxicity of pesticides can cause lethal effects after one episode of ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact. Some effects of acute toxicity are respiratory tract irritation, sore throat and/or cough, allergic sensitisation, eye and skin irritation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, loss of consciousness, extreme weakness, seizures, and/or death. Next, many people have eaten foods and drank water possibly contaminated with pesticides their entire lives. Some long term, or chronic effects of pesticides, or repeated exposure to small amounts of pesticides include, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, depression, anxiety, Cancer (including leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Pesticides can even cause neurological health effects, including memory loss, loss of coordination, reduced visual ability, and reduced motor skills. One may argue that not all pesticides pose risks to human health, and that not all foods are contaminated with pesticides. Although not all foods are contaminated with pesticides, many …show more content…
Pesticides are very soluble, which means they can dissolve easily. This is harmful because 50% of the U.S.’s water comes from groundwater. According to the U.S. Geological survey, (USGS), in 2001, pesticides were found in all samples from major rivers with mixed agricultural and urban land influences, and that 99% of samples in urban streams. In 1995, 23 different kinds of pesticides were found in the waters of the Puget Sound Basin in Washington, including 17 herbicides. The USGS also found that concentrations of insecticides in some Urban streams exceeded guidelines for aquatic life. Next, ⅓ of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. This includes almonds, peaches, grapes, coffee (plant), and chocolate (cacao plant). This year, bees have been declared an official endangered species. The main cause of the decline in the population of bees globally is the use of pesticides. Most insecticides are toxic to bees. This effects everyone eating food pollinated by honey bees, no matter who you are, or where you live. Lastly, soil is affected by pesticides. Heavy treatment of soil with pesticides can cause populations of beneficial soil microorganisms to decline. “According to the soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingham, “If we lose both bacteria and fungi, then the soil degrades. Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have effects on the soil organisms that are similar to human overuse of antibiotics. Indiscriminate
There are many issues regarding the raising and producing of various livestock animals, and the use of pesticides on various types of crops. The movie Food.Inc does a good job explaining these issues, but in a very biased way. It makes agriculturists look like terrible people, when this is not the case.
The pesticide DDT banned in 1987 was a detrimental to the environment leading to it to be banned in 1987. DDT remains in the soils for a long period of time. The chemicals affect the ecology of the soil and water run off causing contamination of livestock and native animals and aquatic species. Studies indicated a range of human health impacts from DDT including cancers, infertility, miscarriage and nervous system impairment. The social and economic impact of DDT use in viticulture was significant.
White, R., Feldman, R., and Travers, P. Neurobehavioral Effects of Toxicity Due to Metals, Solvents, and Insecticides. Clinical Neuropharmacology, Vol. 13, No. 5, 1990, pp. 392-412.
Colony Collapse Disorder and Pesticides From around the year 2006, many bee farmers in the U.S.A and some parts of Europe started reporting sharp declines in their bee stocks. The reason for these declining numbers was not known and therefore scientists named it colony collapse disorder (CCD). Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a not very old phenomenon and it became popular when large numbers of bee colonies started disappearing. The disappearance was mysterious since no dead bees were found in or around the beehives after a colony’s number was reported to have gone down or vanished.
Have you ever thought about how your fruits and vegetables are grown? How about which ingredients are put into bug sprays and insecticides to ward off those pesky insects? Look no further because author Rachel Carson looks deep into the many environmental issues caused by pesticides and herbicides in her New York Times best-selling novel, “Silent Spring.” “Silent Spring” is a collection of studies which were performed in an effort to educate others about the harmful things occurring everyday to their foods and every-day environment in hopes of giving them a wake up call. This novel is thought by many to be a revolutionary novel that forced people to take notice of the harm being caused in their world, many of which people were unaware of. After discovering the results of these chemicals, it really makes one wonder, is the luxury of being insect free really worth all of the consequences?
To most, the honeybee can be an annoying insect that has a powerful sting. Yet, the honeybee is so much more than just another insect. The honeybee is arguably the most vital component in the development of our food crops. With roughly 90 percent of our food crops dependent on the pollination of our honeybees, our food system, agricultural development, and diet rest on the work and well being of these buzzing insects. Unfortunately, since 2006 there has been a major decline in the population of honeybees, and has gotten progressively worse because of colony collapse disorder. The first reported increase of CCD was documented in November 2006 in Florida. By February 2007, several states began reporting major losses associated with CCD, ranging from 30% to 90%. A little over a half decade later in 2012 the attention paid towards CCD has grown substantially with more research being done as CCD continues to get worse. The main culprit for CCD, as research has suggested, is the use of pesticides on our food crops. With major corporations such as Bayer making millions and millions of dollars in profit each year in the distribution of pesticides, it is no wonder that nothing is being done to stop this practice despite evidence linking the use of pesticides and the drastic deterioration of the health of honeybees. With the continuation of the use of deadly pesticides and the vital role bees play in the pollination and development of our food crops, both the environment and our economy will be effected directly and face the potential for catastrophic results.
A question commonly associated with the word insecticides is, what are they? Well I have the answer, insecticides are chemicals that are used to eliminate insects. In the agricultural industry, insecticides are classified into different categories,and the most used is carcinogenic. A carcinogenic insecticide is a substance or agent producing or causing cancer. This is just one of the reason that I believe there are more cons then pros when dealing with a insecticide.. When I was a kid , I can remember my parents taking me and my brother an apple orchard and picking apples. I couldn't wait to eat them until I got home, but we couldn't eat an apple because of what insecticides could be on the apple
...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.
Lawrence, Timothy, and Walter S. Sheppard. "Neonicotinoid Pesticides and Honey Bees." Cru.cahe.wsu.edu. Washington State University, Nov. 2013. Web.
To help keep crops from being destroyed, conventional farmers use many methods such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Nearly 1 billion pounds of these chemicals are used every year (“pesticides”). Because of this excessive use, some scientists express concern that using artificial chemicals in the farming process could produce unhealthy crops. People who ate it over a long period of time could suffer from degraded health and stunted growth (“Organic Foods”). For example, in 1989, the EPA banned the use of Alar which was a chemical used to ripen apples (“Farming, Organics”). This chemical proved to be carcinogenic after causing tumors in mice after several laboratory tests (“Organic Food”). As a result of these findings there was a dramatic increase of the sales for organic food (“Organic Food”). Another study found that Atrazine (one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States) has the potential of being carcinogenic and reducing sperm counts in males (“Organic Food”). This was further proven when evidence was found that chemicals u...
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
Instead of using pesticides in farming a better alternative would be biological control. This is when a natural predator is released into the crop growing area as a result the number of pests can be reduced.
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.
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... ... middle of paper ... ... ts.
Pesticide is a chemical used to prevent, wipe out and control the pest problem in agriculture. The use of pesticides have become a common practice around the world, and used almost everywhere, such as agricultural fields, homes, park and school, and so on. Most pesticides are insecticides, herbicides and fungicides that have distinct purposes. Insecticides are used to control insects; herbicides are used to destroy plants; fungicides are used to prevent molds and mildews. Most commonly pesticides contain highly toxic chemical such as Acid copper chromate (ACC), Acephate and Chlorpyrifos, and so on. One of example of insecticides, Chlorpyrifos, sprays widely on a variety of food and golf courses in order to control pests in a cornfield. However, “Chlorpyrifos can cause cholinesterase inhibition in humans; that is, it can over stimulate the nervous system causing nausea, dizziness, confusion, and at very high exposures (e.g., accidents or major spills), respiratory paralysis and death.” (EPA GOV) In the market has thousands of products are similar as Chlorpyrifos.