They have been found in soil, water, sediment, plants and animal tissue in all parts of the world. They have long half-lives in the environment and many have been reported to have toxicological effects in humans. PCBs and dioxins are man-made chemicals used by industry and their release to the environment is generally through by-products of fires and by some manufacturing processes.
Pesticide Exposure Effects Source Citation: Top Ten Toxic Pollution Problems.
The issue with these effects is that they may wait appear until a while after being ingested so tracing the symptoms back to the pesticide can prove to be quite difficult. Many of the symptoms can be mistaken for the flu and therefore not properly treated. The inactive ingredients such as chloroform can also cause serious risks to the liver and nervous system.
These effects can also be experienced by the animals living around the streams where the pesticides accumulate. The pesticides bioaccumulate within the animals as they are not easily soluble, as that animal is eaten by another animal the pesticide then biomagnifies and obtains an even higher concentration as it moves further up the food chain.
Prevention or Mitigation The easiest way to prevent the spread and abundance of agricultural pesticides is through education.
If more farmers, especially in developing countries, knew about the risks of these pesticides, they would be more careful in the way that they use the pesticides and the protection that the sprayers wear. Another way is to adopt the Integrated Pesticide Management program which "emphasizes non chemical and cultural pest control strategies such as removal of diseased plant parts, crop rotation that may disrupt the life cycle of pests, and biological control such as the use of insect predators" Monosson,1.
Particular attention needs to be paid to the developing world as their lower health status makes them more vulnerable to disease and they are usually dependent upon farming as their main source of income and economy.
In more developed countries where health and wealth are not such huge issues, consumers can decrease their risk of consuming agricultural pesticides by selecting products that are deemed organic which means that no pesticides were used during the production of those foods.
There are groups that provide educational sessions, telephone hotlines, and safety classes. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants are making global efforts to decrease the presence and abundance of the harmful pesticides.
Many states within the United States have installed a Clean Sweep program which provides for proper cleanup and disposal of these pesticides. Recommended Readings Carson, Rachel. Rachel Carson had a masters in Zoology and worked for the U.
Fish and Wildlife Service for 15 years. Carson published many books on ecology but her most famous was published in Silent Spring displays the harmful effects of agriculture pesticides such as DDT.
This book was intended to educate the scientific community as well as the general public. It is the perfect example of a widely used agricultural pesticide that was not known to be harmful, the publication led to the subsequent banning of this pesticide in the U. Steingraber was diagnosed with cancer and as a biologist she searched for the roots of her disease.
She found that it most likely came from the high concentrations of toxins in her hometown drinking water supply. She then goes on to draw connections about other incidences of cancer in major cities where there were high toxin levels.
Van Den Bosch, Robert. University of California Press, Robert Van Den Bosch is a professor at the University of California and has conducted research exploring the harmful effects of agricultural pesticides.
In his book he explains how truly detrimental these pesticides are and advocates for the end of their use. As this book was published inVan Den Bosch received much criticism from the pesticide industry and many supporting government officials as the detrimental effects were not very well known at that time.Feeding on controversy: The war against GMOs.
December 7, By Marina Kalcina. Issue 5, Every major scientific body around the world has reviewed independent research around GM crops, Malnutrition is a serious issue affecting over two billion people worldwide.
A systematic application of the precautionary principle in the introduction and application of all chemicals, including pesticides, is needed (EEA ).
This requires thorough risk assessment of chemicals toxicity to environment and humans. Pesticides have proved to be a boon for the farmers as well as people all around the world by increasing agricultural yield and by providing innumerable beneﬁ ts to society indirectly.
In and , the world used approximately megatonnes ( × 10 9 lb) of pesticides, with herbicides constituting the biggest part of the world pesticide use at 40%, followed by insecticides (17%) and fungicides (10%).
The scope of this report is global, as GM foods are present in almost all countries around the world and GM crops are on the rise in replacing conventional crops in order to to conform to the needs of humans.
EFSA acknowledges all the European competent institutions and academia among other foods, and the presence of Alternaria toxins in these commodities is widely reported in the literature.
In October , the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain 1 Introduction.