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It was early morning, October 23, 1999 in Taucamarca, Peru. A farmer had prepared the milk powder for the school childrens breakfast. He was unaware of the fact that he had accidentally mixed a small amount of a pesticide into the milk powder. The farmer intended to use the pesticide to kill rats and stray dogs. Meanwhile, the last stragglers arrived at school and a group of children brought in the bag of powder to make up their morning meal. The older children mixed the milk powder, and when it was ready, everyone sat down to eat.
Half an hour later, as they started their lessons, some of the children began to vomit. Desks were pushed over as others had convulsions, and the small schoolroom became a nightmare. Pesticide use is a significant global issue today because almost three million tons of pesticides are currently used worldwide, and wherever there is farming, there is pesticide use. Pesticides, which include bactericides, baits, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, lures, rodenticide's, and repellents, are any substances or mixtures of substances used to destroy, suppress or alter the life cycle of any pest. They work by physically, chemically or biologically interfering with a pests metabolism or normal behavior.
Pesticides also have an extensive history with the use of first-generation pesticides, derived from minerals and plants, dating back to 500 BC when sulfur was used to control pests. Second-generation pesticides, developed in laboratories, initiated from the creation of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane. Helping to prevent malaria, it quickly became the worlds most popular pesticide. Entomologist Paul Mueller, its creator, even won a Nobel Prize for its discovery in 1948. Although some agricultural experts oppose implementation of alternative methods of pest control because food production will sharply decrease, alternative means of controlling pests should be implemented because food production will be maintained, drinking water safety will be improved, and overall human and animal health will be improved. Of course, as information indicates, some agricultural experts oppose implementation of alternative methods of pest control because food production will sharply decrease.
Mike Holcombe, author of the article entitled Methyl Bromide Not-So-Slow March into Oblivion, suggests that many people see the loss of pesticides as devastating, and there are no one-for-one replacements for them. He continues by stating that Methyl Bromide was given a congressional extension to be phased out in the year 2005 instead of 2001 because agriculture in the United States, the breadbasket to the world, would most likely collapse without this essential soil sterilant. Holcombe concludes by insisting that the Clean Air Act and the Food Quality Protection Act would take away the nations most effective pest control weapons (n. pag. ). Dana Joel Gattuso, author of the article entitled Understanding the Benefits of Pesticides, adds that the science community agrees that the risks from eliminating pesticides are much greater than the risks of pesticide exposure. Gattuso continues by declaring that banning or restricting pesticides would hurt the poor far greater and would severely raise prices on fruits and vegetables.
Gattuso concludes by saying that thirty million Americans spend at least sixty percent of their income on food, and an increase in prices would seriously hurt them economically (n. pag. ). As research shows, some agricultural experts oppose implementation of alternative methods of pest control because food production will sharply decrease. However, as studies reveal, alternative means of controlling pests should be implemented because food production will be maintained.
Nikki van der Game, author of the article entitled Pick Your Poison, comments that World hunger is not caused by food shortages: the world today produces more food per person than ever before. People are hungry because they are too poor to buy the food available, not because there is not enough (n. pag. ). She continues by stating that big corporations want to maintain pesticide use strictly because pesticides brought the agro-chemical business thirty-one billion dollars in 1998.
She concludes by contending that other ways of farming are just as productive as farming with the use of pesticides (n. pag. ). J. Robert Hatherill, author of the article entitled Safer Modes of Pest Control, adds that society today is reevaluating the use of pesticides, and clearly, alternative solutions of pest control must be utilized. He concludes by revealing that the estimated proportion of United States food supply lost to pests is thirty-seven percent today, six percent higher than it was in 1940, a time when far fewer pesticides were being used (n. pag. ).
Donella H. Meadows, author of the article entitled Our Food, Our Future, insists that there is strong evidence that organic methods of farming can produce just as much food as farming with pesticides. Meadows continues by noting that the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit research facility, conducted a study that showed organic farming was equally profitable to farming with pesticides. She concludes by pointing out that John Haberern, president of the Rodale Institute, says that they have scientifically proven that organic agriculture works (n. pag. ). As data proves, alternative methods of farming are just as productive as farming with the use of pesticides.
More importantly, information shows, drinking water safety will be improved. The article entitled New EPA Regulations are Only Hope for Clean Water, published in the Atlanta Constitution, states that the nation is facing high levels of water contamination which are not rectified. The article continues by noting that water pollution comes from applications of chemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides on farmlands. The article concludes by pointing out that the Environmental Protection Agency believes, over forty percent of the nations lakes, rivers, and streams are not clean enough for swimming and fishing because of pollutants like pesticides (n. pag. ). Gregory L.
Poe, author of the article entitled Maximizing the Environmental Benefits Per Dollar Expended: an Economic Interpretation and Review of Agricultural Environmental Benefits and Costs, believes that one of the leading sources of contamination of public and private supplies of water is agricultural pesticides. He continues by asserting that Nationwide, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has detected the presence of 74 pesticides in groundwater in 38 states (n. pag. ). Poe concludes by pointing out that a study conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture projects that nearly fifty-four million people could be negatively affected by agricultural contamination of groundwater (n. pag. ). Paypal Sampat, author of the congressional testimony entitled Global Access to Safe Water, comments that over two-thirds of water samples at the Central Columbia Plateau aquifer, which lies under Washington and Idaho, contained multiple pesticides.
Sampat continues by stating that The United States Geological Survey detected two or more pesticides in groundwater at nearly a quarter of the sites sampled across the United States between 1993 and 1995 (n. pag. ). Sampat reiterates that the nation needs to find alternatives to pesticides to combat the growing water pollution problem (n. pag. ). Bettina Boxall, author of the article entitled California and the West; Group Says Chemicals in Water Supply Exceed Limits, suggests that water contamination from pesticides is a substantial problem in California.
She continues by declaring that forty-six of California's fifty-eight counties have pesticides in their water. Boxall concludes by observing that the California Public Interest Research Group claims that there are pesticides in water serving 16. 5 million people in California (n. pag. ). Peter Fairley, author of the article entitled Water Utilities Join Environmental Groups Assault on Herbicides, adds that water works are facing the burden and costs of eliminating pesticides from drinking water.
He continues by emphasizing that water utilities are fed up with doing the costly job that simply eliminating pesticides and herbicides would do. Fairley concludes by pointing out that the American Water Works Association president Bevin Beaudet says that reducing or eliminating the amount of pesticides and herbicides before they get into the source water is the best way to ensure that drinking water is safe (n. pag. ). The article entitled AWWA Plan Attacks Water Contamination, published in WaterWorld, a journal dedicated to water industry news, points out that the American Water Works Association states, more than 170, 000 miles of this nations waterways do not meet federal water quality standards in part due to contamination of pesticides. The article reiterates that clean drinking water starts with a clean water source (n. pag. ).
As research reveals, the less that pesticides are being used, the less water contamination occurs. Most importantly, studies prove, overall human and animal health will be improved. Dorothy Myers, author of the article entitled Cotton Tales, declares that ten percent of all fatal injuries in developing count...
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Research essay sample on Alternative Methods Of Pest Control
