Pesticides
Pesticides are the only toxic substances released
intentionally into our environment to kill living things. This includes
substances that kill weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides), fungus
(fungicides), rodents (rodenticides), and others.
The use of toxic pesticides to manage pest problems
has become a common practice around the world. Pesticides are used almost
everywhere -- not only in agricultural fields, but also in homes, parks,
schools, buildings, forests, and roads. It is difficult to find somewhere where
pesticides aren't used -- from the can of bug spray under the kitchen sink to
the airplane crop dusting acres of farmland; our world is filled with
pesticides. In addition, pesticides can be found in the air we breathe, the
food we eat, and the water we drink.
People
often use pesticides in their homes or yards to control a variety of pests such
as insects, weeds and rodents. Pet owners may also apply pesticide products
directly to their pets to control ticks and/or fleas. Although these pesticides
can be beneficial, they have the potential to hurt your pet if they are not stored
and used properly.
EFFECTS
Pesticides and Human Health
Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of
human health hazards, ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and
nausea to chronic impacts like cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine
disruption.
Acute dangers - such as nerve, skin, and eye
irritation and damage, headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and systemic
poisoning - can sometimes be dramatic, and even occasionally fatal.
Chronic health effects may occur years after even
minimal exposure to pesticides in the environment, or result from the pesticide
residues which we ingest through our food and water.
Pesticides and Children
Children are particularly susceptible to the
hazards associated with pesticide use. There is now considerable scientific
evidence that the human brain is not fully formed until the age of 12, and
childhood exposure to some of the most common pesticides on the market may
greatly impact the development of the central nervous system. Children have
more skin surface for their size than adults, absorb proportionally greater
amounts of many substances through their lungs and intestinal tracts, and take
in more air, food and water per pound than adults. Children have not developed
their immune systems, nervous systems, or detoxifying mechanisms completely,
leaving them less capable of fighting the introduction of toxic pesticides into
their systems.
Many of the activities that children engage in -
playing in the grass, putting objects into their mouth and even playing on
carpet - increase their exposure to toxic pesticides. The combination of likely
increased exposure to pesticides and lack of bodily development to combat the toxic
effects of pesticides means that children are suffering disproportionately from
their impacts
Pesticides and the Environment
Pesticides are toxic to living organisms. Some can
accumulate in water systems, pollute the air, and in some cases have other dramatic
environmental effects. Scientists are discovering new threats to the
environment that are equally disturbing.
The Solution to Pesticides
We need to make our food, our air, our water, and
our soil free from toxic chemicals.
The real solution to our pest and weed problems
lies in non-toxic and cultural methods of agriculture, not in pulling the
pesticide trigger. Organically grown foods and sustainable methods of pest
control are key to our families’ health and the health of the environment.
Better testing. State and federal
agencies should require stricter independent testing, including testing of
synergistic effects of pesticides. Pesticides known or suspected of causing
human health problems should be phased out.
Protect our children. Because our
children are the most vulnerable population to pesticides, pesticide use should
be prohibited in places where our children live and play, including schools,
parks, and playgrounds. Require strict non-toxic pest management programs for
such places.
Pesticide Use Reduction. Provide
technical assistance to farmers, local governments, businesses, and homeowners
on non-toxic alternatives to pesticide use. This includes alternatives to
nuisance spraying for mosquitoes and controlling West Nile virus and other pest
problems.
Prohibit pollution of our water and
poisoning of our communities. Ensure that aerial pesticide use does
not pollute our waterways through strict rules governing spraying and buffer
zones that prevent the harmful effects of drift. Prohibit the use of pesticides
for purely aesthetic reasons. Prevent pesticide applications to water bodies,
instead using non-chemical methods of managing aquatic invasive weeds.
Right to know. Provide free and
universal notification to residents about pesticide use, including who is using
chemicals, where, when, how, what pesticides are being used, and why.
Protect workers. Provide
protection to workers and farmers to prevent acute and chronic pesticide
poisoning.
NAME : Amruta Abhyankar
