Pesticide Essay, Research Paper

Pesticides are chemicals that make our produce perfect, and our yards free of

pests. However, this perfection comes at a price to many different people.

Pesticides are poisons with the sole purpose of killing. They are intended to

kill weeds, insects and fungus. There are three types of pesticides called

herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Every pesticide has an active

ingredient, and an inert ingredient. The active ingredient is the poison that

kills he pest, and the inert ingredient is the carrying, or spreading compound.

(Honey pg. 2) Pesticides were once thought of as a miracle cure for hunger. They

were supposed to keep crops free of pests, and misquitos under control. People

were not aware of the dangers that these poisons possessed. DDT* was supposed to

be a, "benefactor for all humanity" (Honey pg. 2). There were few

regulations on the use of DDT use. It was even sprayed where children played. It

was intended to kill misquitos, but it ended up poisoning, even killing people.

(Honey pg.2) Elizabeth Rollings says that one of her teachers, Mrs. Keller, had

a sister that died from DDT poisoning when Mrs. Keller was a child. People came

to her house that sprayed the bushes with DDT to control misquitos, and when

Mrs. Keller and her sister played near the bushes they were exposed to the

deadly poison. Now a days the U.S. has seen the dangers that pesticides possess

and banned many kinds from use in this country. However, the U.S. has yet to ban

them from being made here and exported to foreign countries. In fact, 25 tons

are exported every hour. (Honey pg. 1) There are three main problems with this:

the regulations are very low in the places the U.S. exports to, many of the

people in those places are unaware of the dangers, and the pesticides can return

on the produce that the U.S. imports. A specific example of how unaware the

people are is an incident in Costa Rica. The field workers in a sugar plantation

were not told of the dangers of the pesticides that they applied, and they were

not given any protective clothing. Many of them went shirtless, and in tennis

shoes with no socks. They had used this pesticide for several days when many

began to complain of headache and nausea; some began to vomit blood. One man

died, but fortunately the problem was discovered in time to treat the rest of

the workers before they died. Another of the problems that arise from pesticide

exportation is getting it back in the produce we import from these countries.

One third of the poison banned in the U.S. returns in what is being called the

circle of poison, which is when pesticides that are exported and used on produce

that return on the produce, back to the people it was being meant to keep away

from. (Scanlan pg.1) To avoid this, many people are shopping at health food

stores where pesticides have not been used on the food. There is a basic

progression that occurs when the body is poisoned by a pesticide. First there is

a biochemical inactivation of an enzyme. Next this biochemical change leads to

cellular change. Then the cellular change causes symptoms of poisoning seen or

felt in the particular organ where the enzyme that was deactivated was. All this

changes a body’s homeostasis*, and when homeostasis can not be maintained or

restored, disease occurs. Most effects aren’t permanent, but may take a long

time to completely recover from. However, some do cause permanent damage. The

damage of pesticide poisoning varies. It can effect just one particular organ

system, or it can effect a number of organ systems.( GTI. Manifestations of

Toxic Effects. pg 1) Another problem that pesticide poisoning possess is

detection. A history of being exposed to chemicals can cause illness that can be

hard to distinguish from a viral infection, such as the flu. One might go to

long without treatment thinking they have a virus that they will eventually

overcome, when in reality they have been poisoned by pesticides, which can lead

to worse and worse damage over time. "People who handle chemicals

frequently in the course of their jobs and become ill, should tell their

physicians about their previous exposure to chemicals." (GTI Manifestations

of Toxic Effects) The statistics of harm from pesticides are numerous.

"Each year 25 million people, primarily from the Southern Hemisphere, are

poisoned through occupational exposure to pesticides; of those 220,000

die." Pesticides have been linked to cancer in many situations, but,

"scientists do not yet understand exactly how cancer occurs or why some

chemicals seem to cause cancer and other do not." (GTI Carcinology pg. 1)

High concentrations of DDT have been found in the breast milk of mothers in

Central America. Also, a study in 1993 revealed that higher levels of DDE* have

been found in U.S. women with breast cancer, than in those women who do not have

breast cancer. "At least 136 active ingredients in pesticides have been

found to cause cancer in humans or animals." (Honey pg. 1) Next time you go

to the super market remember, "The abundance and variety of fresh, picture

perfect produce is brought to you and your family at a price, not just at the

cash register." (Honey pg. 1) The price is also paid by the workers, and

users of deadly pesticides, of the fields we import food from. IT might shock

you to know that 79, of the 136 proven carcinogenic* pesticides are used on you

to this day! (Honey page 1) *Homeostasis is the maintaining of the body’s life

functions. *DDT is a pesticide used to kill misquitos. *DDE is the chemical

compound that occurs when DDT breaks down. *GTI is short for Guelph Turfgrass

Institute. * Carcinogenic means cancer causing. If something is carcinogenic

then that means it causes cancer.