Pesticides and herbicides are chemical compounds made to kill pest insects and plants considered weeds, respectively. There are several different types of pesticides and herbicides; but unfortunately, many have one sad fact in common – that they damage ecosystems and our health. Some interfere with the nervous system, some irritate skin and eyes, some are suspected carcinogens,[1] and some disrupt hormones and the endocrine system,[2] which is responsible for the regulation and growth of the body. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not regulate or test most of these chemicals for their one-time and cumulative effects on human health. Similarly, these compounds’ breakdown and combination products, and their effects of seasonal high exposure during planting times to pesticides are not well understood. Least studied is the cumulative effects of long-term low exposures.
The majority of scientific research has shown that exposure to many pesticides and herbicides causes cancers, skin diseases and neurological effects.[3] Simply put, pesticides and herbicides are not tested enough nor are they monitored enough for the amount of health risks they pose to humans. Some would say we would have to enter into a cost/benefit analysis at this stage; weighing the costs (to human and ecosystem health) against the benefits (cheap food). This puts at an ethical quandary which has no palatable solution (e.g., just how many children must have birth defects before the cost of pesticides is considered more than the benefit? or, how much must the ecosystem be affected before we care?). Luckily, the ethical dilemma of a cost/benefit can be moot, as sustainable agriculture can produce as much food in a healthier way. Additionally, the supposed benefit of herbicides and pesticides (cheap food), really does not benefit poor people or the consumer (see here, here, and here). But more on this later.
How do they damage the environment?
Artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are applied on wide swaths of land in copious amounts by agribusinesses and farmers. These chemicals are then washed off the land by rain and end up in groundwater and rivers, where they accumulate in sediment and water, and thus, in fish, animals and us, through our drinking water and eating the animals and fish that eat/drink the contaminated food/water. The National Water Quality Assessment program found that almost all streams have pesticides in them. 45% of groundwater samples in rural agricultural areas had pesticides present. Herbicides too are present in water. [4] All of these kill off fish and birds, which lead to other ecosystem effects. Pesticides also kill off beneficial insects, such as pest predators and bees. As you might suspect, bees, our primary crop pollinators, (and so important to food production that some have claimed that if bees die off, humans would go extinct) are more plentiful on organic farms than conventional ones.[5] Fish in pesticide/herbicide-laden water show reproductive problems, enlarged thyroid glands, and decline in health. Scientists blame the declining American Alligator population in Florida on health problems from a pesticide spill that happened a few years ago.[6] What is more, pesticide concentrations can climb the food chain, as was seen with DDT, which nearly caused the extinction of bald eagles through DDT exposure in their prey.
These agricultural chemicals climb up the food chain and enter humans’ bodies. Many of these chemicals are fat-soluble, which means they cannot be, for the most part, eliminated by our bodies. When metabolized, relatively harmless chemicals can become harmful, posing unforeseen risks to humans and animals. Thus, they persist, like DDT, which even though banned in the 1970s, is still present in people’s bodies, and is passed down through breast milk. Industrial agricultural chemicals have been linked to developmental defects, cancers, and disease through hundreds of studies.
What’s the theological problem?
It is one thing to enhance natural processes which were created by God, with good things such as organic fertilizers and smart growing techniques. But the chemicals we use are harmful and unsustainable. Industrially-made agricultural chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, industrial fertilizers) are made to replace natural processes to sustain materialistic goals of questionable companies. They are harmful to the environment, animals and humans – God’s creation. Thus, we are challenging the intrinsic value of God’s created ecosystems by using these chemicals. Not surprisingly, our meddling has resulted in several harms to human and ecosystem health.
[1] Morrison, Howard; Savitz, David; Semeniciw, Robert; Hulka, Barbara; Mao, Yang; Morison, Diedre; Wigle, Don. “Farming and Prostate Cancer Mortality.” American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 137, No. 3: 270-280
[2] Jaeger, James; Carlson, Ian; Porter, Warren. “Endocrine, immune, aldicarb, atrazine and nitrate mixtures at groundwater concentrations.” Toxicology and Industrial Health, Vol. 15, No. 1-2, 133-151 (1999) http://tih.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/1-2/133
[3] Sanbourn, Margaret; Cole, Donald; Kerr, Kathleen; Vakil, Cathy; Sanin, Luz; Bassil, Kate. “Pesticides Literature Review.” The Ontario College of Family Physicians. 2004. http://www.ocfp.on.ca/local/files/Communications/Current%20Issues/Pesticides/Final%20Paper%2023APR2004.pdf
[4] ROBERT J. GILLIOM, JACK E. BARBASH, DANA W. KOLPIN, AND STEVEN J. LARSON. “Testing Water Quality for Pesticide Pollution”. April 1, 1999 / Volume 33, Issue 7 / pp. 164 A-169 ACopyright © 1999 American Chemical Society http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/est/99/apr/test.html
[6] FAQs on Endocrine Disrupters. http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/qendoc.asp
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
huh?
How come you don’t give any information about the benefits of pesticides? This article is quite biased!!
The benefits of pesticides are there, of course. Spraying pesticides in areas helps to mitigate mosquito populations which carry all sorts of diseases like malaria and West Nile. The use of pesticides also can increase crop yields.
But… (there’s always a but).
Mosquito populations are increasing mostly due to our own lifestyles. Bats and birds normally prey on mosquitoes and other pests and keep their populations in check. However, bat and bird populations are drastically down the world over due to loss of habitat, pesticide and herbicide use, water pollution and other stresses. We leave stagnant water in our lawns and streets which allow mosquitoes to lay eggs in large numbers.
Crop yields increase with pesticide and herbicide use but at a dire cost. Fields are sterilized. Earthworms, nature’s soil enrichers, are killed. Bees, the pollinators of almost all of our crops, have been shown to be more plentiful in organic fields than sprayed fields. Pesticide and herbicide use encourage industrial farming, which is unsustainable and increasingly more reliant on the next chemical, as pests and weeds adapt to each one.
That being said, there are ways to use pesticides/herbicides which are better than others. Selective use can have minimal impact on the environment when combined with a non-monocrop (non-industrial) farm. Our current system however, favors large, broad-scale spraying operations that run off into our water supplies. Even our lawn care chemicals are over-applied and cause massive destruction in our rivers and water sources.