“Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.”
Albert Schweizer
One of the many unexpected consequences of World War II was the start of the agricultural synthetic chemical industry, in particular pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides). For example, although DDT was first synthesized in 1874, its insecticidal properties were not discovered until WWII, when it was used to control mosquitoes and lice among civilians and troops. After the war, it became available to farmers and its use spread like a fire.[1] Pesticide use has increased more than fifty-fold since 1950![2]
The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has defined the term pesticide as:
"any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal feedstuffs, or substances which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies. The term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit, and substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transport."[3]
As clearly stated by that definition, pesticides are intended to kill organisms that have become harmful to humans in one way or another. Nevertheless, they are ultimately poisonous to all life, including our own. In fact, pesticide self-poisoning is the method of choice in one third of suicides worldwide.[4] However, those extreme situations are not the only examples of the harm humans are inflicting upon themselves by using pesticides. Everyday people all over the world consume these toxic substances without being aware of the dangers they pose to their health.
Although government agencies (the Environmental Protection Agency, in the case of the U.S.) conduct research to determine acceptable levels for the use of pesticides to avoid harm to humans, a number of complications must be considered. First of all, many of these chemicals tend to persist in the body (that is, it takes a very long time for them to be broken down). Many also bioaccumulate (that is, build up as residues in the body, especially on fatty tissue)[5]. This means that, for example, even though a certain level of a particular pesticide on a particular fruit may be deemed safe for human consumption, that particular chemical will accumulate in our bodies along with those chemicals present in other foods we consume and the water we drink, not to mention those pesticides we might breathe in or absorb through our skins. We have no real idea of what this accumulation entails to our health. Over time, chronic poisoning might result. Furthermore, we do not know what will happen on the long term as these chemicals interact with each other and degrade over time.
"any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal feedstuffs, or substances which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies. The term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit, and substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transport."[3]
As clearly stated by that definition, pesticides are intended to kill organisms that have become harmful to humans in one way or another. Nevertheless, they are ultimately poisonous to all life, including our own. In fact, pesticide self-poisoning is the method of choice in one third of suicides worldwide.[4] However, those extreme situations are not the only examples of the harm humans are inflicting upon themselves by using pesticides. Everyday people all over the world consume these toxic substances without being aware of the dangers they pose to their health.
Although government agencies (the Environmental Protection Agency, in the case of the U.S.) conduct research to determine acceptable levels for the use of pesticides to avoid harm to humans, a number of complications must be considered. First of all, many of these chemicals tend to persist in the body (that is, it takes a very long time for them to be broken down). Many also bioaccumulate (that is, build up as residues in the body, especially on fatty tissue)[5]. This means that, for example, even though a certain level of a particular pesticide on a particular fruit may be deemed safe for human consumption, that particular chemical will accumulate in our bodies along with those chemicals present in other foods we consume and the water we drink, not to mention those pesticides we might breathe in or absorb through our skins. We have no real idea of what this accumulation entails to our health. Over time, chronic poisoning might result. Furthermore, we do not know what will happen on the long term as these chemicals interact with each other and degrade over time.
According to Randall Fitzgerald, author of The Hundred Year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from the Chemicals that Are Destroying Your Health,” mixing synthetic chemicals in our bodies has become tantamount to playing with a chemistry set without an instruction manual.” He points out that toxicology experts predict that a third to half of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime as a result of the chemical experimentation we are conducting on ourselves.[6]
Just to put an example of how many layers of “safe” amounts of pesticides and other chemicals we might be ingesting daily, let’s follow a particular wheat product from the seed to our table. First of all, the soil in which it is to be planed will have likely already accumulated vast amounts of pesticides from many spraying cycles, as well as through underground and rain water which may bring along chemicals from near and far. Second, the actually seeds will have likely been processed with a number of chemicals even before the farmer buys them. Through the growing processes the plant will more than likely be sprayed with insecticides multiple times, as well as with other chemicals such as defoliants. Once the wheat is gathered, it will be treated to look better and to be preserved longer. It will then be processed into a generic food product, such as flour, a process that will add more chemicals, from preservatives to bleaches (or colorants). On its way to the supermarket, and once it’s stored there, it will likely be near pesticides used to control rodents. We will then consume the accumulation of chemicals along with the food we prepare with this flour, and store it with the chemicals from all our other food sources that day, and from every day of our lives – even before birth, since the placenta is no barrier to any of these chemicals and therefore unable to prevent unborn children from exposure to the chemicals present in their mothers’ diets.
But what exactly does this mean? How exactly do these chemicals threaten our health? The World Health Organization and the United Nation’s Environment Programme estimate that 3 million agricultural workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from exposure to pesticides every year. They estimate that 18,000 of those poisoned die.[7] Many more millions suffer mild poisoning, which may include nausea, vision problems, skin reactions, dizziness, vomit, headaches, and many other symptoms. Additionally, many studies have indicated that pesticide exposure is associated with long-term health problems such as respiratory problems, memory disorders,[8] dermatologic conditions[9], anxiety, depression,[10] birth defects, and neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s. In fact, a Harvard School of Public Health study showed that people exposed to even low levels of pesticides had a 70% greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.[11]
It’s been decades already since pesticides were first suspected to cause cancer. In fact, they have been labeled “carcinogens” for decades. However, the general assumption has been, until very recently, that the relationship between pesticides and cancer was no more than an improvable assumption. That dubious connection is no longer the scientific conclusion. Pesticides are known to cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, and many other forms of cancer. Breast cancer, for example, has been linked to exposure to DDT prior to puberty. All these cases are documented in a document titled Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer: New Evidence, 2005-2007 which was prepared for the Cancer Working Group of the Collaborative for Health and the Environment. This report chronicled recent epidemiological evidence linking occupational and environmental exposures with cancer through peer-reviewed scientific studies published from January 2005 through June 2007, supplementing their state-of-the-evidence report published in September 2005. The authors argue that the substantial evidence justifies demanding urgent action that would limit exposure to avoidable environmental and occupational carcinogens.[12]
This recommendation is echoed by the American Medical Association:
"Particular uncertainty exists regarding the long-term effects of low-dose pesticide exposures. Current surveillance systems are inadequate to characterize potential exposure problems related either to pesticide usage or pesticide-related illnesses…Considering these data gaps, it is prudent…to limit pesticide exposures…and to use the least toxic chemical pesticide or non-chemical alternative."[13]
Perhaps, a good example to follow is that of Europe, where legislation has recently banned all use of highly toxic pesticides. The ban includes pesticides that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction, disruptive of the endocrine system, as well as all of those which are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic.[14]
"Particular uncertainty exists regarding the long-term effects of low-dose pesticide exposures. Current surveillance systems are inadequate to characterize potential exposure problems related either to pesticide usage or pesticide-related illnesses…Considering these data gaps, it is prudent…to limit pesticide exposures…and to use the least toxic chemical pesticide or non-chemical alternative."[13]
Perhaps, a good example to follow is that of Europe, where legislation has recently banned all use of highly toxic pesticides. The ban includes pesticides that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction, disruptive of the endocrine system, as well as all of those which are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic.[14]
Frightening as all these facts may be, the grim picture that pesticides and other types of synthetic chemicals paint for the future of our species is even more complex than the image conjured up by the scope of this paper. I have limited myself to exploring only superficially the direct effects that exposure to pesticides can have on human health – not considering other issues, such as reduction of reproductive ability, environmental pollution, destruction of habitats, and damage to other species. If the reader is as aware as we should all be of the fact that all life in this planet is interdependent, it will be obvious to him or her that, in the long term, these other devastating consequences of the use of pesticides are as threatening to the survival of the human species as direct damage to individuals’ health – or more. As we try to limit our personal exposure to these chemicals by eating organic, avoiding the use of domestic pesticides, and supporting appropriate policy, we are still left to wonder: how much time is there left for humanity as a whole to realize the suicidal qualities of its actions before it’s too late?
[1] International Program on Chemical Safety, DDT and Its Derivates.
http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc009.htm
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[2] Miller, GT (2002). Living in the Environment (12th Ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, p. 294
[3] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2002), International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides.
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPP/Pesticid/Code/Download/code.pdf
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[4] Gunnell D, Eddleston M, Phillips MR, Konradsen F (2007). "The global distribution of fatal pesticide self-poisoning: systematic review". BMC Public Health 7: 357.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2262093
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[5] U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, Bioaccumulation Definition
http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/bioaccumulation.html
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[6] Fitzgerald, Randall. “The Hundred-year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from the Chemicals that Are Destroying Your Health”. Penguin Books: London. 2007, p 30.
[7] Miller GT (2004), Sustaining the Earth, 6th edition. Thompson Learning, Inc. Pacific Grove, California. Chapter 9, Pages 211-216.
[8] Arcury TA, Quandt SA, Mellen BG (August 2003). "An exploratory analysis of occupational skin disease among Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers in North Carolina". J Agric Saf Health 9 (3): 221–32.
[9] O'Malley MA (1997). "Skin reactions to pesticides". Occup Med 12 (2): 327–45.
[10] Beseler CL, Stallones L, Hoppin JA, et al. (December 2008). "Depression and pesticide exposures among private pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study". Environ. Health Perspect. 116 (12): 1713–9.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2599768
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[11] Pesticide exposure raises risk of Parkinson’sAscherio A, Chen H, Weisskopf MG, O'Reilly E, McCullough ML, Calle EE, Schwarzschild MA, Thun MJ (2006). "Pesticide exposure and risk for Parkinson's disease". Annals of Neurology 60 (2): 197–203.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9408-pesticide-exposure-raises-risk-of-parkinsons.html
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[12] The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/EnvandOccCausesofCancer-2007Update-DownloadVersion_000.pdf
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[13] Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association. (1997). Educational and Informational Strategies to Reduce Pesticide Risks. Preventive Medicine, Volume 26, Number 2
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/pm/1997/00000026/00000002/art00122%3Bjsessionid=pkwgpommd0xm.alexandra
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[14] Pesticide Legislation Approved last retrieved 13 January 2009
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20090112IPR45936
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc009.htm
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[2] Miller, GT (2002). Living in the Environment (12th Ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, p. 294
[3] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2002), International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides.
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPP/Pesticid/Code/Download/code.pdf
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[4] Gunnell D, Eddleston M, Phillips MR, Konradsen F (2007). "The global distribution of fatal pesticide self-poisoning: systematic review". BMC Public Health 7: 357.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2262093
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[5] U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, Bioaccumulation Definition
http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/bioaccumulation.html
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[6] Fitzgerald, Randall. “The Hundred-year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from the Chemicals that Are Destroying Your Health”. Penguin Books: London. 2007, p 30.
[7] Miller GT (2004), Sustaining the Earth, 6th edition. Thompson Learning, Inc. Pacific Grove, California. Chapter 9, Pages 211-216.
[8] Arcury TA, Quandt SA, Mellen BG (August 2003). "An exploratory analysis of occupational skin disease among Latino migrant and seasonal farmworkers in North Carolina". J Agric Saf Health 9 (3): 221–32.
[9] O'Malley MA (1997). "Skin reactions to pesticides". Occup Med 12 (2): 327–45.
[10] Beseler CL, Stallones L, Hoppin JA, et al. (December 2008). "Depression and pesticide exposures among private pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study". Environ. Health Perspect. 116 (12): 1713–9.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2599768
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[11] Pesticide exposure raises risk of Parkinson’sAscherio A, Chen H, Weisskopf MG, O'Reilly E, McCullough ML, Calle EE, Schwarzschild MA, Thun MJ (2006). "Pesticide exposure and risk for Parkinson's disease". Annals of Neurology 60 (2): 197–203.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9408-pesticide-exposure-raises-risk-of-parkinsons.html
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[12] The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/EnvandOccCausesofCancer-2007Update-DownloadVersion_000.pdf
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[13] Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association. (1997). Educational and Informational Strategies to Reduce Pesticide Risks. Preventive Medicine, Volume 26, Number 2
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/pm/1997/00000026/00000002/art00122%3Bjsessionid=pkwgpommd0xm.alexandra
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
[14] Pesticide Legislation Approved last retrieved 13 January 2009
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20090112IPR45936
Retrieved on September 20th, 2009.
