Use and Abuse of Pesticides - Coursework Example

Pesticides Before going into the details of harmful use of pesticides in humans, animals, plants, and the environment, let us get a better understanding of what pesticides actually are. Pesticides are the mixture of various poisonous chemicals that the insects cannot resist. Nielsen (2010, p.23) found that pesticides are chemicals that are intended to protect the food supply by controlling various kinds of harmful organisms. Miller and Spoolman (2009) state that “pesticides control more pests quickly, have a log shell life, and are easily shipped and applied” (p.295). Some of the widely used pesticides include slug pellets, weed killers, ant powder, plant growth regulators, and fungi killers. All of these pesticides are very commonly used to restrict the movement of pests. For farmers, pesticides serve as crop protection products that protect the crops from being spoiled or infected by different kinds of harmful insects, weeds, animals, and bacteria. Different products have been developed for restricting the movements of different pests. These products include insecticides, herbicides, miticides, fungicides, and rodenticides. All of these products are used according to their nature of pests. For example, insecticides are used to control the movements of aphids. Similarly, fungicides are used to ensure seed germination, crop growth, and quality of crops. Pesticides are groups of chemicals that are widely used in agriculture (Jeyaratnam, 1990). Pesticides play a very important role in protecting our food and crops from various kinds of harmful insects. Miller and Spoolman (2009) assert, “Every $1 spent on pesticides leads to an increase in U.S. crop yields worth approximately $4” (p.295). However, as pesticides bring many benefits for us by protecting our food and health, there are also some negative points associated with the use of pesticides in humans, plants, and the environment. This is the reason why there are strict controls in some countries over the sale of pesticides to the public. Let us discuss in detail the harmful use of pesticides in humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Harmful Effects on Human Health Pesticides bring many harmful effects on the health of human beings and the animals. People use pesticides to kill the insects but the chemical, which is sprayed in the air for this purpose, becomes very harmful even for their own health. Pesticides are designed to kill the insects, which are living organisms just like humans. Therefore, where the pesticides adversely affect the insects, they also bring a harmful affect on humans if sprayed from a very close distance. Pesticides do not disappear immediately after they are applied, rather they take a very long time to disappear completely. Pesticides enter into the body through skin or mouth (Ogden, 2004, p.69). Some of the most common effects of pesticides on human beings include sneezing, coughing, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, and skin rashes. Difficulty in breathing is also a common symptom of use of pesticides in homes. Pesticides are particularly harmful for the children. It is because children generally do not have any idea about the harmfulness of pesticides. Many incidents have taken place where children even died due to the presence of pesticides in homes. It is because children do not have much sense regarding the pesticides and they taste them because they often fail to differentiate between a bottle of juice and a bottle containing harmful chemical in the form of pesticides. Those companies, which develop pesticides, do not recommend their regular use. Some opponents of the use of pesticides believe that the harmful effects of the chemicals outweigh the benefits of these chemicals (Miller & Spoolman, 2009, p.296). It is because long term or continuous exposure to pesticides can create many serious problems for the human beings, which include skin cancer, kidney damage, and eyesight problems. Pesticides should be kept away from the reach of the children in order to protect them from any sort of danger. Another negative aspect of pesticides is that the chemical remains in the air for a long time, which affects the health of humans in a very harmful way. Pesticides affect both targeted and non-targeted organisms. Another fact regarding pesticides is that they can get inside a house even they are used outdoor. They are transferred inside the house in the form of soil, which comes with the shoes of the people living in the house. Pesticides are often used in school areas where the risk of exposure is very high. For example, if the pesticides are used in the cafeteria of a school, it may end up in poisoning the food that the students eat (Levine, 2007, p.115). Some schools store the pesticides in the campuses. However, if that is necessary, the pesticides must be kept out of the reach of the children and should be used after the school timings in order to protect the children from any kind of harmful effects. Pesticides, in all forms, are harmful for the human health. For example, fungicides result in creating skin and eye problems for the humans although they are less toxic as compared to other pesticides. The chemical gets spread in the air causing coughing and sneezing problems for the humans. However, where pesticides kill the germs and stop fungi from growing in the food, they also prove to be very harmful for the human beings if not used with extreme care. It is also evident from the researches that various adverse effects occur to the health of humans due to the chronic exposures of lower concentration to the fungicides. Another harmful effect occurs to the human health in the form of those fish, which grow in the contaminated water. People use pesticides to decontaminate the polluted water, which are harmful to the fish that live there. Insecticides, such as chlorpyrifos, are very toxic for the fish, and when the humans eat those fish, their health also gets affected as a result. Pesticides, along with minor diseases, also bring many serious diseases for the human beings such as infertility, stillbirth, and damage to the nervous system. These diseases do not occur at once; rather they grow up in the body of humans in an unnoticeable way. In children, brain cancer, non-Hodgkin, and lymphoma leukemia are some of the common diseases that occur due to use of pesticides in homes. In adults, colon-rectal cancer, breast cancer, and pancreas cancer are some of the most common diseases. Another fact regarding harmful effects of pesticides is that the effects can also transfer from mother to a newborn child. “ Despite the widespread use of pesticides, often only limited precautions are taken in terms of warning signs” (Levine, 2007, p.115). Precautionary measures related to the use of pesticides are very important in order to decrease the chances of infection. Regular and heavy use of pesticides must be avoided and if necessary, a very low level of exposure should be used for highly toxic pesticides. Any person applying pesticides must keep the mouth and nose covered in order to keep away from intake of pesticides. Pesticides are usually applied in the form of powders, sprays, and mists depending upon the nature of the insects being treated. Precautionary measures are essential while applying any kind of pesticide. For example, if the pesticides are being applied in the form of liquid or powder, there should be gloves on the hands of the applier whereas if the pesticide is in the form of spray, then the applier should wear a mask in order to remain safe. Harmful Effects on the Environment Use of chemical to control pests also brings many negative effects on the environment. It is because some pesticides do not disappear from the environment immediately and remain in the air for a long time which results in polluting the environment. “Some pesticides, particularly the organochlorine insecticides, are extremely stable compounds and persist in the environment for many years” (Pimentel & Lehman, 1993, p.17). However, not all of the pesticides remain active for such a long time. There exist some pesticides such as fumigant numaticides, which disappear in a very short time. There is extremely large number of microorganisms that are present in the air and they are different to each other from structure and life cycle aspects. Not all of them can be dealt using one pesticide; rather they require different pesticides depending on the nature and biological structure. So in order to control those microorganisms, different pesticides are used, which not only kill the unwanted microorganisms but also result in polluting the environment. Schnoor (1992) asserts, “Transformation products of pesticides and chemicals in the environment are occasionally more toxic than the parent compound” (p.23). The environment gets polluted due to excessive use of pesticides, which brings a negative impact on the health of living organisms such as humans, plants, and birds. The pesticides can go into the lungs of living organisms through inhalation causing a number of serious diseases. Some researches have proved that the number of birds present in the world has significantly reduced during the last two decades and the reason for this reduction is the excessive use of pesticides in the environment. Not only air but also the water gets polluted due to use of pesticides. “A major consideration in protecting the environment from exposure to pesticides has been to minimize spray droplets drifting and subsequently sedimenting on water surfaces” (Matthews, 2006, p.132). There should be such surfaces where pesticide sprays should not be allowed in order to make the aquatic organisms safe and healthy. Along with water and air, plants also get affected due to spray of pesticides on them. Farmers use different pesticides to kill or control the movement of unwanted insects present on the plants. Exposure of plants to one or more pesticides is very harmful for the proper growth of plants. Therefore, we can say that the use of pesticides in very important in controlling or restricting the movement of unwanted organisms. However, with some benefits, the pesticides also bring many adverse effects not only on the humans but also on the environment. Conclusion Summing it up, pesticides are the mixture of some poisonous chemicals that are used to kill or control the pests. Pesticides play a very effective role in restricting the growth and movement of unwanted organisms. Some of the most commonly used pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Pesticides bring many harmful effects on the health of human beings, plants, animals, and the environment because they contain such poisonous chemicals that are very injurious not only for the targeted organisms but also for the non-targeted organisms. Therefore, special precautionary measures should be taken while applying any kind of pesticide at any suspected place in order to keep away from the intake of pesticides. References Jayaratnam, J. (1990). Acute Pesticide Poisoning: A Major Global Health Problem. World Health Statistics Quarterly, 189(3), 139-144. Levine, M. (2007). Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in our Midst. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Matthews, G. (2006). Pesticides: Health, Safety, and the Environment. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Miller, G., & Spoolman, S. (2009). Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Nielsen, S. (2010). Food Analysis (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Ogden, S. (2004). Caring for American Indian objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide. U.S.A: The Minnesota Historical Society Press. Pimentel, D., & Lehman, H. (1993). The Pesticide Question: Environment, Economics, and Ethics. New York, NY: Routledge. Schnoor, J. (1992). Fate of Pesticides and Chemicals in the Environment. U.S.A: Wiley-Interscience. Read More