Pesticides Affecting Human Species

In order to preserve the existence of birds in our environment, the government should generally integrate crop management techniques. These methods include; selective pesticides, avoiding spraying in during breeding season and when crops and weeds are in flower, and then minimise spray drift or creation of headlands. When these methods are put into practice, they can help minimize unwanted effects of pesticides on farmland birds.

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) (Winter 1992). Malathion Insecticide Factsheet. Journal of Pesticide Reform 12(4). Retrieved May 4, 2008, from

Neonicotinoids are most commonly used insecticide in the U.S. They are also an insecticide that kills bees. The insecticides are applied to seeds before they are planted. They stay with the the plant as they grow.

Agriculture is the most fundamental resource of society. Without it, humans could not live, especially in the ways we do now where people reside in cities. This means that those cities could not exist without large scale agriculture to sustain them. Since agriculture is such a necessity, people have developed methods to gain more from their land. One of the many solutions besides machinery they have developed to produce higher crop yields is through the use of pesticides. However, those pesticides which have resulted in high crop yields have come at price, and that is human health itself. This seems rather contradictory. Pesticides were designed to help people and society by increased the success of producing high crop yields, and they

In the early 1940’s, a new technology emerged that was able to successfully combat crop-damaging and disease-carrying insects. A new age of synthetic chemical pesticides use arose. After their impressive success in fighting deadly insect-borne diseases during World War II, pesticides were used widely to combat insect pests for agriculture and public health. Few people challenged the benefits of the new scientific and technological products and many embraced pesticide use with enthusiasm. Despite its success, doubts about pesticide use began to appear a decade later in the 1950’s, when the government began a vigorous pesticide campaign across the country against insect pests. Scientists began reporting heavy losses of avian and

The banning of insecticide, a major pollutant and neurotoxin, has been up for debate for a significant period of time. However,

Resent ecotoxicological laboratory studies have looked into whether exposure to common pesticides might be impairing bee performance and contributing to their population decline. Neonicotinoids, which are manufactured by the company Monsanto, are a group of pesticides chemically connected to nicotine. These types of pesticide instead of being applied to the leaves are drenched in the soil and on the seeds, and in turn the poisons become part of flowering plants and gather in nectar and pollen. These systemic poisons are brought back to the hive in the form of pollen and nectar which gets stored in the honeycomb and builds up in the bee colonies.

Carson clarifies that “the sprays, dust, and aerosols are now applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and homes-nonselective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, the “good” and the “bad”.” In contemporary world today many people use these mankind chemicals without understanding the effects of nature. For example, the reproduction of bees are dropping traumatically because of the pesticides effects on the insects. According to CNN “How Pesticides are killing the bees “Recent data published in science, Nature and other un journals show that bees are dying from some pesticides that are found in our food supply.” The damaged the chemicals are doing to the bees have worries many scientists. The New York Times wrote, pesticide linked to honeybee deaths, “a group of pesticide believed to contribute to mass deaths of honeybees.” Another example of the harmful chemicals affecting the good insects are by destroying favorable insects such as lady bugs and butterflies, which are another great alternative way to pollinate flower. These beneficial insects are very important for human wellbeing; therefore, we should minimize the use of

Being used worldwide, neonicontinoids which have a similar chemical structure/properties as nicotine have been used as an insecticide that attacks insect’s nervous systems for many years now. Being infused within the seed of the crop, bees can be in direct contact with the chemical from the pollen of the plant, “…neonicotinoids, or neonics, a nicotine-based pesticide that coats seeds and infuses all parts of a crop as it matures, are "a key factor in the decline of bees” (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Experts statistically noticed that one hundred percent of corn seeds and sixty percent of soybean seeds in Ontario are treated with this chemical (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Presence of these toxins in a bee’s system lead to weakness and eventual death themselves, or play a role in multiple disruptions to their bodies. With the chemical in their body the bee’s health begins to deteriorate as scientifically proven, “Exposure to thiamethoxam appears to impair bees’ homing ability, with consequences for colony survival” (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Neonicotinoids amongst other chemicals have been linked to causing problems in the bee’s homing capabilities as well as introducing the possibility of the deformed wing virus. A neuroethologist at Newcastle University, discovered that the neonic-tained nectar possesses seemingly addictive

Neonicotinoid pesticides are a group of chemicals widely used on farm crops, plants, and trees (1). The concern behind these pesticides is the harmful impact on pollinating insects such as honey bees and bumble bees (1). Neonicotinoids are sprayed onto the plant where they are absorbed by the plant and are transported to all parts of the plant including the pollen (see figure 1) (1). Bees then ingest the pesticide via the pollen; specifically, this is the point where the central nervous system of the bees becomes compromised. A large number of deaths in bees is being used as an argument against the use of neonicotinoids (1).

There are different types of pesticides, which include the contact, the dust and wettables and the systemic ones. In the study of CCD, several pesticides are being investigated with emphasis being laid on antibiotics, miticides and neonicotinoid pesticides. Just like other insects are vulnerable to pesticides, bees are no exception. Since bees are also insects by nature, the alleged role of pesticides in CCD is justified. Neonicotinoids are pesticides that contain nicotine and the most widely used are imidacloprid and clothianidin, whose effects on other insects are similar to those exhibited in CCD. The effects of miticides are disastrous as they involve the reduction of not only the sperm count among the drones, but also the viability of those sperms (Timbrell, 2002).

This suggests that the roadsides was once beautiful and bloomed with healthy and lively vegetation; however, they are now destroyed due to the use of pesticides. From these examples, it can be shown that even though pesticide is beneficial, its deadly effects outweigh its benefits; in addition, it is a dangerous substances to the environment, organisms, and even human.

In the first scientific study to examine the effect of pesticides on British butterflies, the researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly thrive in the countryside and farmlands have population decline linked to increased use of pesticides specifically neonicotinoids.

One concern about pesticides and herbicide usage is the amount of residues left on the end product of crops sprayed with the chemicals, and their effects on human health. (Williamson, 2007, p. 184). However, these effects are closely tested and levels are strictly regulated to ensure there is no danger from possible pesticide residues. Since 1910, many rules, regulations, and agencies have been formed to monitor the safety of the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional farming. These chemicals must meet specific safety standards in order to be registered for use, and regulations on levels of each product safe for use are also put in place. (Tafel et al.,2007, p.184). All pesticides are rigorously examined to ensure they have no significant effects on human health, or the environment. The residues in the food chain are closely monitored, and regularly tested, to ensure they are below legal limits. In a recent survey of residues

How are pesticides and herbicides important? A pesticide is used to kill targets and kill insects, While herbicides are used to kill undesirable plants or weeds. They help stop the spread of diseases and insects.