Hazards of Chemical Pesticides

Pesticides are substances or mixtures of substances that are mainly used in agriculture or in public health protection programs in order to protect plants from pests, weeds or diseases, and humans from vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, and schistosomiasis. Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, and plant growth regulators are typical examples

Pesticide  use  raises  a  number  of  environmental  concerns,  including  human  and  animal  health hazards. Food contaminated with toxic pesticides is associated with severe effects on the human health, because it is the basic necessity of life. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and soil. Pesticide toxicity can result from ingestion, inhalation or dermal absorption. Continued exposure to these chemicals for a long period may result in various diseases some of which are listed below

   Neurological, psychological and behavioral dysfunctions

  Hormonal imbalances, leading to infertility, breast pain

  Іmmune system dysfunction

   Reproductive system defects

  Cancers

  Genotoxicity

   Blood disorders

Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. Recent articles and reports review toxicological and epidemiological evidences for various health effects associated with pesticides. Extensive toxicological studies  in  animals  demonstrate that a number of pesticides to which the general population may be chronically exposed are potential carcinogens, neurotoxins, reproductive toxins, and immunotoxins. Gonzalez with colleagues showed  DNA  damages  under  2,4-D  exposure  in  Chinese  Hamster  ovary  cells  (CHO).  There are evidences on involvement of pesticides in development of neurodegenerative diseases. Many scientists  reported  impact  of  pesticides  on  biochemical  parameters,  in  particular  on  protein metabolism, endocrine , and reproductive systems. Pesticide contamination of both surface and ground waters can affect aquatic fauna and flora, as well as human health when water is used for public consumption. Aquatic organisms are directly exposed to chemicals resulting from agricultural production via surface run-off or indirectly through trophic chains

Pesticide Alternatives

In fact, modern agricultural business leads to environmental crisis. Excessive use of pesticides and to increase the food production may result in serious environmental “diseases”. They may be grouped into two sets

Diseases of  ecotopes  (erosion,  loss  of  soil  fertility,  depletion  of  nutrient  reserves, salinization and alkalinization, pollution of water systems

Diseases of biocoenosis (loss of crop, wild plant, and animal genetic resources, elimination of natural  enemies,  pest  resurgence  and  genetic  resistance  to  pesticides,  chemical contamination, and destruction of natural control mechanisms

Due to this and many other reasons, search for “safest” analogue pesticides of natural origin is for one of the most important problems of our civilization. Potential alternatives to pesticides are available and include specific methods of plant cultivation, use of biological pest controls (such as pheromones and  microbial  pesticides),  plant  genetic  engineering,  and  methods  of  interfering  with  insect breeding.  Application  of  composted  yard  waste  has  also  been  used  as  a  way  of  controlling pests. The major alternatives to traditional chemical pesticides are listed below

Natural pesticides

Biological pest control

Plant genetic engineering

Interfering with insect breeding

Application of composted yard waste

Cultivation practices

Release of organisms that fight the pests

Interfering with insects’ reproduction

Soil steaming

These  methods  become  increasingly  popular  and  usually  are  safer  than  traditional  chemical pesticides. The polyculture (growing multiple types of plants together), crop rotation, planting crops in areas where the pests that damage them do not live and use of trap crops that attract pests away from the real crop are elements of cultivation practices. Another example of an alternative to pesticide is using of other organisms that

fight the pest. These organisms can include natural predators or parasites of the pests

Ref

Maksymiv, I. (2015). Pesticides: benefits and hazards. Journal of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, 2(1), 70-76

Nicolopoulou-Stamati, P., Maipas, S., Kotampasi, C., Stamatis, P., & Hens, L. (2016). Chemical pesticides and human health: the urgent need for a new concept in agriculture. Frontiers in public health, 4, 148

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