PESTICIDES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

             

By Abubakar Aliyu G.

Pesticides are chemicals ranging from insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscides, nematicides plant growth regulators and others, most of these chemicals such as organochlorine insecticides.Ideally a pesticide must be lethal and ruthless to target pest but not to humans and other animals but reverse is the case.

 Most of  pesticides that are produced are  used  on farms to control agricultural pests with an average amount used to control domestic pests. Pesticides are very efficient  in controlling pest but  have an almost equal effects on humans and other animals in the environment. These post will run through some effects of pesticides and also solutions to this pesticide effects.

EFFECTS OF PESTICIDES  ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Despite all the positive effects of pesticides such as increase in agricultural productivity, there are other effects of pesticides that are very detrimental. some  of them are discussed below,

• DIRECT IMPACTS ON HUMANS: When these pesticides are applied to food crops on farms in the name of controlling pest, these chemicals bio accumulate on these crops because most pesticides are recalcitrant ( recalcitrant means that they are persistent to bio-degradation). Most of these chemicals either accumulate, bio magnify, or bio-concentrate in systems of plants and animals that humans feed on causing acute or long-term effects on humans.

• DESTRUCTION OF FOOD CHAINS: One effect of pesticides its ability to destruction of natural balance in the ecosystem by destroying food chains. When pesticides are applied, they are targeted at controlling a specific group of pest but  all in all it affects the food chain, when an organism is eliminated from the food chain , it affects the natural flow of the floodplain and also the ecosystem.

• WATER AND LAND POLLUTION: When this pesticides are applied through spraying method, a large amount of these chemicals are spread through the air and water ways and in the end posing a lot of of damage to humans and biodiversity.

• LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY: Application of pesticides and other related chemicals brings about a harm to biodiversity in the environment.When organisms in the ecosystem come in contact with these pesticides it ends up killing them and in the long run these organisms can become extinct.

  HEALTH IMPACTS OF PESTICIDES

EXPOSURE: Exposure to pesticides occur in many ways. Exposure can occur in agricultural fields, playgrounds,gardens etc. and it leads to exposure to health hazards such as cancer etc as most pesticides are carcinogenic and mutagenic. 

ACUTE TOXICITY: Pesticides can be acutely toxic. This means that they can cause  harmful or lethal effects after one single episode of ingestion or any  sort of contact.

LONG-TERM TOXICITY: Pesticides and other related chemicals can cause long-term harmful effects, usually following continuous exposure at low levels. Long-term exposure can lead to diseases such as asthma, depression,anxiety, cancer ( such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma)and attention deficit  and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

SOLUTIONS TO PESTICIDES

• Engage in organic gardening
• Buy organic and locally grown fruits and vegetables 
• Wash veg. and fruits before eating
• Be able to determine fruits that are grown with high pesticide contents 
• use natural pest control tactics.

RECOMMENDED STEPS TO FOLLOW TO GET RID OF PEST 

• Use soapy water on ants 
• Use cucumber peels or slice (ant  hate them )
• Mint tea
• Neem tree extract controls mosquitoes. 

Leave your suggestions  on how we can phase out chemical pesticides in the comment section below