What are pesticides?

A range of manmade chemicals that are responsible for controlling and removing unwanted organims
like insects, weeds, rodents, fungi, bacteria or nematodes that can be a threat to the food supply.

What does this range consist of?

Herbicides

Insecticides/lavericides

Rodenticides

Bactericides

Nematocides

What is in Pesticides?

Active ingredients are the chemicals in charge of killing the pests. Consist of hydrocarbons with other
elements attached like chlorine, nitrogen, phosphorus, bromine and oxygen.

Inert ingredients facilitate the use of the chemicals. The include vegitable matter, emulsifiers, powdered
minerals, kerosene, water.

Pesticides allow:

Less money to be lost due to agricultural disasters.

No money to be wasted on reharvesting.

Increase in crop yield which means increase in income.

Maximization in crop yield to feed larger populations.

A relatively inexpensive cost for its production.

Fully grown crops to be available all year round.

Long lasting coverage agaisnt pests.

Vector disease control.

Is it worth it? Pesticides also cause:

Health problems.

Loss of non target organisms.

 Contamination of water bodies.

Loss of aquatic life.

Loss of soil microflora/decrease in soil fertility.

Evolution of superbugs.

Disruption of hormones, and are mutagens, carcinogens, neurotoxins.

Long lasting chemical presence in environment.

Reproductive
DDT inhibition or failure.
(1,1'-(2,2,2-Trichloroethane-1,1- Atrazine (1-Chloro-3-ethylamino-5-isopropylamino-
diyl)bis(4-chlorobenzene) 2,4,6-triazine): one of the most commonly used
Cellular and DNA damage.): banned pesticides that contaminates water bodies and raises
pesticide chemical labelled a B carcinogen
acidity levels of soil.
Lossseverely
that in diversity.
affects the nervous system.

Can it be fixed?

Implement inexpensive Biological control strategies.

Use pests’ natural predators.

Grow mixed crops instead of monocrops.

Follow pesticide directions and intructions on label.

Dispose of pesticides accordingly.

Dress appropriately when using it.

Inspect ingredients and determine which is most suitable for the environment it is applied to.

Resources:

BYJUS. (2018, October 30). Pesticides - uses, disadvantages, and advantages. Retrieved October
27, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEeGMMcYCI

ChemSpider. (n.d.). DDT. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from

http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.2928.html
CLEAR. (2016, December 9). What is Monoculture? Retrieved October 27, 2020, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH_wt8xBrm4

Department of Health. (n.d.). Reducing Pesticide Exposure. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/pests/reduce.htm

Effects of soil acidity: Page 3 of 3. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2020, from
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/soil-acidity/effects-soil-acidity?page=0%2C2

How it Works. (n.d.). Pesticide. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Pesticide.html

Importance & Benefits of Pesticides. (2020, September 28). Retrieved October 28, 2020, from
https://pesticidefacts.org/topics/necessity-of-pesticides/

National Pesticide Information Center. (1999). DDT General Fact Sheet. Retrieved October 27,
2020, from http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf

Perez-Galvez, F. (2016, October 14). Do we really need pesticides? Retrieved October 27, 2020,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLllZ-qiXJA

Romeo, C. (2017, October 16). Effects of Pesticides on Agriculture. Retrieved October 27, 2020,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6cXORhyUNo

US Department of Commerce, N. (2019, April 02). What is eutrophication? Retrieved October

28, 2020, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eutrophication.html