Pesticides on the USA
Yushun Tsou
Freshman English101
Final Paper
Teddy Chocos
Pesticides were a revolutionary invention that opened new windows to crop
growth, and more importantly to feed the masses in the growing world. However,
pesticides have a long bumpy ride before being set as the standard crop protection. Early
advocates against pesticides during the 1960s like Rachel Carson were quick to pass
judgment claiming that pesticides were having harmful effects and that they should not
be used. Carson wrote in her book “Silent Springs” that the chemicals that were being
mass-produced and distributed by the chemical industry had no part in nature. She went
on to say that it was in fact, too dangerous to the environment and all living creatures.
She explained that pesticides killed both “good” and “bad” insects, and plants. “They
should not be called ‘insecticides,’ but ‘biocides.’ which is a clever way for Carson to say
that pesticides are not only killing insects but the environment. But, for the USA,
pesticides are needed because they protect our crops, prevent famines, keep money in our
economy, meet the worlds food demand, and even though it’s not perfect, it works.
The first organic pesticide was chlorinated hydro carbon and was discovered in
1939 by the Swiss Chemist, Paul Muller. Muller’s pesticide
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) became very popular after World War II. DDT
was toxic to insects but not harmful to mammals like humans to a degree, but it did not
break down easily in the environment. (Duke University) The major factor to DDT’s
popularity would be that it was an inexpensive product and it was easy to apply. Pesticide
sales were valued at about 35,000,000,000 United States dollars in 2010. In 1961 the sale
value for DDT was only 310,000,000 United States dollars. It is obvious that over the
years, pesticides have become a hot commodity and have given a significant boost to the
economy. Pesticides aid in the protection of the production of necessary cash crops.
Currently more countries, especially developing countries, have adopted pesticides into
their agricultural systems. This is because, they have proven to be a quick and easy fix to
help those countries supply the food they need to support their ever-growing populations,
with the benefit of cheaper prices. (Rotterdam)
As public opinions in the Unites States started to side with idealists like Carson,
laws and regulations were put into place to protect the people. One of these organizations
was the US Environmental Protection Agency. (US Environmental Protection Agency)
Along with The Office of Pesticides, there were studied done that were conducted on the
pesticides. The results of these studies drove the government into putting into place new
public health programs; programs that were established to protect human health. As a
result of that action, now all pesticides have to be registered with the Department of
Agriculture before they can be sold anywhere. These regulations gave, and continue to
give a great sense of safety. When considering that the pesticides that are being put on
one’s food have been scientifically checked to make sure they have no dangerous or
significant effect on humans, people can rest assured. (National Research Council)
Do to the Unites States government enforcing stricter watch over pesticides, and
public opinions against pesticides rising, DDT was cancelled from registration in 1972.
(Duke University) This proved that actions truly had been taken by the government to
push for more safe pesticides. The fact of the matter is, not all pesticides are safe and that
is that. Knowing this, the government has taken great strides to properly recognize and
regulate pesticides, in order to protect human lives and to feed them. Hearing about food
poisoning due to pesticides is not a common event, and usually when someone falls ill
due to food is because of those who prepared, being sanitary. One is more likely to
contract germs or disease from unwashed hands in their food, before pesticides. Without
regulations we aren’t protected from the worst of poisonous pesticides, but again it’s not
as bad as a cook who doesn’t wash his hands. The primary form of pesticide exposure for
humans is through the food we consume, so pesticides have been closely monitored by
the FDA and EPA to protect us from harmful amounts in our foods. (US Environmental
Protection Agency)
Pesticides effects on the environment have proven to be harmful to non-target
species, air, water and soil. In addition, pesticides decrease biodiversity which has
changed habitats, however this only effect the environment surrounding the farmed crops.
This has not really affected humanity to a extreme point except during the 1960s when
crop dusters were popular and allowed pesticide to drift in the air polluting it and
spreading across a larger perimeter from the crop. (Wilson, Jim)
Pesticide’s effect on plant life has been known to prevent pollinators from
reaching plants that need pollination, and have caused some weeds to become more
resistant from pesticides. On the brighter side, these pesticides only effect nearby
pollinator plants, so the weeds have not become a serious threat to produce production.
Farms are on collective ground, meaning they sit on a large mass of land dedicated to
farm development away from forests, nature, etc. Farming crops have been separated
from the wild environment which acts as a form of protection for nature from the
industrialized farming. (Department of Game and Inland Fisheries)
Water though, has proven to be a different story. Pesticides have polluted over 90%
of wells in the Unites States and have been found in groundwater and rain. This has
greatly diminished the Unites States’ source of freshwater, but the public opinion on
water is that water isn’t much of an issue because freshwater is still abundant and waterplants usually treat the water before distribution to the public. The lack of unpolluted
fresh water can eventually prove to be dangerous for not only the water source location,
but for all the various locations the water is shared with; because like cities who rely on
imported foods, many locations rely on imported water. (Nina Glasgow, Nan E. Johnson,
Lois Wright Morton)
The major reasons the world uses pesticides is to protect cash crops from pests;
which include plant pathogens, weeds, birds, mammals, fish, worms, disease or vectors.
If a crop were to fail, the economy could face damages due to mass loss in profits and if a
population were to lose its supply of food, an entire country could collapse. Being the
world’s population is growing out of control in current times, a higher demand on food
becomes a major priority. Sadly, to have more food, larger crops must be grown, however
larger crops are subject to mold and pests. (Cormac Ó Gráda) (Headley, J. C.)
Major positives of pesticides are that they protect a large population and they
prevent sicknesses in humans caused by molded food or diseased produce. Pesticides kill
invasive weeds that may cause environmental damage. Being most modern countries rely
heavily on imported crops, a famine today could lead to worldwide famine. Examples of
great famines would be the Great Irish Famine, Maya famine (Destroyed Entire
civilization), Anasazi Famine (Destroyed entire civilization), Great Famine (example of a
widespread famine that effected all of Europe), and the Russian famine (resulting in
100,000 dead). When famines occur there is a greater mortality rate of populations, and
to avoid such a situation there needs to be a guaranteed source of food. (Caroline Farrell)
(Jikun Huang, Fangbin Qiao, Linxiu Zhang, Rozelle, S.)
Everything has a consequence and pesticides have many of them. Pesticides can
be harmful for humans, but thanks to the regulations, that harm has been minimized. To
add, people in developed countries are offered a choice between foods treated with
pesticides and those that were not, so its personal choice to consume such foods. (Ohio
State University) (Philip Hall Howard) Pesticides make it easy to protect a population
and to help a population back onto its feet, but to protect a massive population action had
to be taken to protect the world food supply from collapsing, which would cause
worldwide famine. Pesticides have also been separated from nature to a degree, and its
negative effect on animals and plants was its design. Pesticides were developed to kill
unwanted plants, and prevent animals and bugs from affecting the crop. An argument
could be made that pesticides can harm nature but so can invasive molds and weeds from
regular crops. Looking at the amount of positives versus negatives, there is a reason
pesticides are still used today; that is because it does its job and allows the production of
mass amounts of produce. Looking at pesticide on The USA today is in reality a positive
aspect unlike the public opinion of many liberals. There must be protected resources and
further research, it’s not like organic produce is not grown and people in developed
countries can’t acquire such food. (Donald Worster) Today, researchers are developing
natural pesticides from plants and trees like the Neem tree from South America that will
eventually replace many of the toxic pesticides and maybe ride pesticides from the
connotation of being harmful toward the environment, its animals and the people who
consume the produce it was designed to protect. (Schmutterer)
Citations
Convention, Rotterdam. "Pesticides." Rotterdam Convention Home Page. United Nations
Environment Programme. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.pic.int/Implementation/Pesticides/tabid/1359/language/en-US/Default.aspx>.
“Critical issues in rural health” By Nina Glasgow, Nan E. Johnson, Lois Wright Morton
"DDT : An Introduction." Chemistry at Duke. Duke University. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/pest/pest1.html>.
"DDT |Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) Chemical Program | US EPA."
Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) Chemical Program. US Environmental
Protection Agency. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/ddt.htm>.
“Famine: a short history” By Cormac Ó Gráda
Farm pesticides, rice production, and human health in China by IDRC. Regional Office
for Southeast and East Asia, Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia by
Jikun Huang, Fangbin Qiao, Linxiu Zhang,
Rozelle, S.
Headley, J. C. "Estimating the Productivity of Agricultural Pesticides." American Journal
of Agricultural Economics 50.1 (1968): 13-23. Print.
National Research Council. The Future Role of Pesticides In U.S. Agriculture.
Washington D.C., U.S: National Academies, 2000. Ebrary. National Academies Press,
Oct. 2000. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
<http://site.ebrary.com/lib/umass/docDetail.action?docID=10038657>.
Sources
Carson, Rachel. "Excerpts from Silent Spring (1962)." Silent Springs. 323-25. University
of Kentucky College of Agriculture. Web. 24 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.uky.edu/Classes/NRC/381/carson_spring.pdf>.
"Effects of DDT." Chemistry at Duke. Duke University. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/pest/effects.html>.
Handbook of Environmental Fate and Exposure Data for Organic Chemicals By Philip
Hall Howard
“Nature's economy: a history of ecological ideas” By Donald Worster
"Pesticide User's Guide, Bulletin 745 - How Pesticides Affect Humans." Ohioline. Ohio
State University. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://ohioline.osu.edu/b745/b745_4.html>.
PROPERTIES AND POTENTIAL OF NATURAL PESTICIDES FROM THE NEEM
TREE, AZADIRACHTA INDICA H. Schmutterer
"State of Science Review: Nutritional Superiority of Organic Foods." Organic-center.org.
The Organic Center. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.organiccenter.org/reportfiles/NutrientContentReport.pdf>.
“The Great Famine” By Feargal Brougham, Caroline Farrell
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. "Wildlife and Pesticides." Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/landowners/infosheets/wildife-and-pesticides.asp>.
Wilson, Jim. "Pesticide Environmental Stewardship: Drift." Pesticide Environmental
Stewardship. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.
<http://pesticidestewardship.org/drift/Pages/default.aspx>