The Issues Associated With Pest Control

Pesticides provide health benefits for humans and animals. They protect the products of agriculture and home gardeners, keep homes free of pests and the diseases they carry and reduce pest damages. Some pesticides act as disinfectants. Pesticides include insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides and antimicrobials, each used to control a specific pest problem. Though they have benefits, some pesticides also put human and animal health and life at risk.

Health Issues

• Insecticides, also known as organophosphates, attack the nervous systems of insects and have the potential to do the same to humans and animals. Organophosphate poisoning occurs with ingestion of contaminated food or drinks, inhalation of insecticide drift carried by the wind from application sites, or skin contact with insecticide. Following the manufacturer's instructions on the packaging ensures the product's safe usage. Manufacturers also provide directions for accidental contamination.

  The health issues associated with continual use of herbicides, applied for weed and plant control, include cancer and damage to the human reproductive system. Children and farm workers have the greatest health risks from chronic exposure to pesticides. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) reports that before birth, children still in the womb run the risk of developing ADHD, autism and birth defects from exposure to pesticides. According to Chapter 3 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's handbook, "Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings," 10,000 to 20,000 farm workers are exposed each year to pesticide poisonings.

Pesticides on Food

• As of 2001, the insecticide Chlorpyrifos is no longer available for indoor residential use because of its harmful effects in children; however, it is still used in agriculture on food crops. According to the Children's Pesticide Exposure Study published in "Environmental Health Perspectives," "Dietary intake of OP (organophosphorus) pesticides represents the major source of exposure in young children." Following a five-day organic diet, urine samples taken from the study participants found minimal or no traces of the pesticides. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, the effects of Chlorpyrifos exposure also include nausea, vomiting, weakness, paralysis and seizures.

Pesticide- Resistant Bugs and Weeds

• As insects become resistant to pesticides, controlling them necessitates the of use products containing chemicals with a higher degree of potency. The same problem exists with weed control. According to Pesticide Action Network (PAN), "500 to 1000 insect and weed species have developed pesticide resistance since 1945."

Pesticide Drift

• When they are carried by wind and water, pesticides create worldwide environmental and health problems. According to a Washington State Department of Agriculture news release in January 2011, fines were issued to a farmer for exposing the occupants of a passing school bus to pesticide drift. The drift occurred when the farmer applied pesticide to his fruit orchard.