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. What exactly is a pesticide? “A pesticide is a chemical used to prevent, destroy, or repel pests” (EPA). There are many different pests. Some examples are the termites that cause damage to our homes, dandelions in our yards, and fleas on our pets. Almost all pesticides contain chemicals that can be harmful to people, animals, or the environment. Many common products that we use in and around our homes every day are considered pesticides. Things such as mosquito sprays, rat poisons, cockroach sprays and baits, flea and tick sprays, and cleaners used to disinfect the kitchen floor. A lot of the time, pesticides are used on farmers’ crops to make sure insects do not eat away their plants. All these items, and even more are considered to be pesticides. They can poison fish and wildlife, contaminate food sources, and destroy the habitat that animals use for protective cover (EPA). Agricultural runoff is water from cropland or livestock operations that flows into a body of water. It does not have one direct source that it comes from, and that is why it is hard to control. Scientists call that a diffuse source of pollution. It is the number one category of nonpoint source pollution (NPS) in rivers and lakes. Non-point source ... ... middle of paper ... ... have to spend so much to try to clean the water out. There are many other reasons and ways, but I hope this paper will convince you to try to prevent pesticide runoff too. Works Cited Pederson, T.L. “Agricultural Run-off as a Source of Drinking Water Contamination.” ExtoxNet FAQs. Oregon State University. June 1997. Web. 10 April 2014. Beyerlein, Tom. “Agricultural Runoff Has Harsh Impact on Environment.” Dayton Daily News. Cox Media Group. 17 April 2010. Web. 15 April 2014. “Protecting Water Quality form Agricultural Runoff.” Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection Agency. March 2005. Web. 11 April 2014. Bengtson, Harlan. “How to Deal with Agricultural Runoff.” Bright Hub Engineering. N.p., 16 July 2010. Web. 5 May 2014. “What Is a Pesticide?” Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection Agency. 9 May 2012. Web. 9 May 2014.
The Everglades used to be a very beautiful tourist attraction, but have been largely affected by the existence of pesticides. However, the majority of pesticides is not specifically targeting the pest only but they also affect non-target plants and animals during their application. The Effect of pesticide runoffs on the Everglades is destroying one Florida’s major tourist attractions due to the cultivation of sugar cane just to mention one of those responsible and creates a loss of natural habitat, water pollution, and threatens existence of wildlife. Many pesticides are not easily degradable; they persist in soil, leach to groundwater and surface water and contaminate wide environment.
...urkholder, J., Libra, B., Weyer, P., Heathcote, S., Kolpin, D., Thorne, P., et al. (2007). Impacts of waste from concentrated animal feeding operations on water quality. Environmental Health Perspectives, 11(2), 308–312. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817674/pdf/ehp0115-000308.pdf
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.
Harlan County region has historically been a coal mining area located in the heart of the Cumberland Mountains, which is characterized by moderate to steep hillsides and narrow valleys. Large open tracts of land are minimal, which places constraints on wastewater treatment options (EPA, 2004). Consequently, small-scale wastewater package plants are prevalent. Path Fork, Cawood, and Evarts cities are located along tributaries of the upper Cumberland River and each had numerous examples of “straight-pipe” discharges (EPA
There are many ways pollutants can enter lakes and rivers: agricultural and urban runoff, industrial outfalls, migration through groundwater, through the food chain, and many more. Many p...
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.
"Pesticides." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 18 July 2005. Web. 20 May 2011. .
... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved May 22, 2014 from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/toxic-waste-overview/ Onishi, N. & Wollan, M. (2014, January 17). Severe drought grows worse in California. The New York Times.
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
SPCM 1040 – Clare Proctor - FINAL FULL OUTLINE Speeches 5-8 minutes, will be delivered at the last session Judith Serwaah Agyenim-Boateng Subject/Topic: Pesticides General Purpose (GP): To persuade Specific Purpose (SP): At the end of my speech my audience will know about the dire effects of pesticides on the environment will take measures minimize their use.
Hennigan, Robert D. "Water Pollution." Oxford University Press 19.11 (1969): 976-78. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Agriculture is the major farming activity. Agriculture's scale means not only that large area is directly affected, but that local and even regional climates can be affected. The draining of water from rivers and watersheds for irrigation leads to drier natural habitats. Those rivers that receive runoff from farmland are often poisoned by excessive nutrients and pesticides.
70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well as not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human-caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to a UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades. One of the main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide.
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.