1
Alex Bloch, Final Copy
English 101/Stahl
Pesticides
When I think of pesticides, I think of how the chemicals spread to various parts of the
Earth affecting everything it touches. Many hundreds of years ago, prosperous farmers used
such chemicals as: sulfur, arsenic, mercury and lead to get rid of their pests affecting their crops.
Now what’s the problem with using such chemicals? Pesticides have been used for thousands of
years and have been beneficial until scientists proved that there are toxic effects resulting from
the release of pesticides. Pesticides—chemical, biological agents—prevent, exterminate, or
destroy any mangy pest that disrupts farmers who put long hours into: planting, fertilizing,
cultivating, harvesting, and selling their crops. Even though crop production increases due to the
use of pesticides, do we really want to exercise the risk of ingesting the dangerous, harmful
effects of the pesticides? Or is it necessary to prevent diseases like e-coli by using such
chemicals to eliminate pests? Pesticide only has one meaning, but its meaning and process
effects everyone and everything that it comes in contact with.
There are a few ways that pesticides can unexpectedly harm us humans, no matter how
careful these chemicals are used. As the pesticides provide a safety net for the crops, there is the
risk for rainwater washing the pesticides deep into the soil. This result could drain into the water
system which could make a lot of people sick. City water systems filter out the cruddy,
disgusting chemicals that slip in the system. On the other hand, well water systems are not that
modern and fancy. They do not have filters, which gives people a better risk of consuming toxic
chemicals. Furthermore, the exposure from pesticides can lead to birth defects or even fatal
death, depending on the chemicals. Also, in the past a pesticide plant released forty tons of a
poisonous gas that killed thousands of people. Since the risk of danger from the exposure of
2
pesticides is high, then why are they still being used today? There are alternatives that are less
threatening that are being used, but they have not overthrown the use of pesticides, yet. For the
most part farmers tend to use less toxic chemicals, because they do not want themselves or their
families to be exposed to such dangerous chemicals by accident.
There are various factors or dangers that could also contribute to the spread of pesticides.
Wind is mysterious which comes and goes at any time. Wind can play a major role in
contributing to the spread of pesticides throughout the air and land. To be specific, birds can
catch a disease or sickness from flying by farms that use pesticides. Then those birds could
spread the disease to various animals. And the spread keeps continuing until a large amount of
animals are affected. The pesticides can cause soil contamination which will affect anything that
is planted in the soil. If crops are planted then they may not have the ability to grow properly.
Habitats for birds or small creatures can be threatened by these pesticides. Such danger could
wipe out a population of animals in a certain area. Ecosystems diminish when they are in contact
with the pesticides and in turn, mess up the food chain.
A farmer uses pesticides all the time in order to help his crops. He walks around his
ranch, inspecting his crops and animals. The farmer begins to mix a variety of ingredients
together, carefully in the right amounts for maximum efficiency. He puts on his radioactive suit,
goggles, and mask and begins to lightly spray his crops with the pesticide. He knows the critters
will be awaking from their hibernation to invade his crops, so he plans ahead by protecting his
crops. Furthermore, the farmer needs to maximize his land by planting his crops in an orderly
fashion. In order to prevent the crops from growing too big, pesticides are used to control their
growth rate. This is important, so they have an accurate organized inventory of their crops in
order to sell them and make money. The mixed chemicals are dispersed among the crops and
3
fall on top of them, due to gravity. These chemicals repel animals from approaching the crops.
But if they do consume any the toxins will enter their digestive system and will cause fatal
damage. This fatal incident, in turn, will send a message to the risky, courageous critters that
want to eat the farmer’s crops. The money he makes will pay for his taxes and the well-being of
him and his family. The farmer and consumers benefit from this, but the environment and the
humans that are exposed to it suffer a great deal more. The farmer has the risk of the pesticides
spreading to the inside of his house. His kids could be gleefully playing outside and all of a
sudden the pesticides land on their bodies and begin to do their job. The farmer did not expect
his children to be vomiting or have trouble breathing, but those are the dangerous affects that
pesticides have on humans.
Personally, my family and I have apple trees growing downstate in Northville,
Michigan. We have the trees sprayed every year for bugs, but mainly to reduce the apple supply.
There were too many apples being produced, so that problem needed to be fixed. The spray
crew guys come with their masks to spray the trees and inform us to not eat the apples while the
pesticides are present. Unfortunately, after the chemicals are sprayed, animals and humans
cannot walk on the grass because of the effects of the pesticides on the body. By not spraying
the pesticides, those nice, red, round apples turn into spotty, black apples with insect eggs inside
of them. There are disadvantages and advantages from the use of pesticides, so it depends on
who uses it and what it affects. In our case, an alternative way to protect our apple trees is
necessary because it causes less harm to the environment. In Northville, there are local farms
that use pesticides that I have witnessed. Out of curiosity, I watched the farmers spray pesticides
over their crops to ensure their survival. The spray is an even mist that covers the crops similar
4
to the fall of light rain. This is bad for people nearby that might get exposed to the pesticides in
the air.
Pesticides can be broken down to mean, cut away a plague or a curse. It definitely lives
up to its meaning and does its job. But, the question is not whether how much is needed to do a
good job, but whether it is necessary to use it because of the potential danger it possess. It does
help farmers increase their production to earn more profits, but it can spread disease to certain
populations of people or animals. Other methods may be used that do not harm the Earth as
much as pesticides do. I have witnessed the use of pesticides both on my parent’s property and
farmer’s property, but that does not mean everyone should use them for their personal benefit.
The true problem is, do enough people use pesticides to cause permanent or devastating damage
to the Earth? Then if so, there has got to be an alternative plan.