Pesticides are substances that are meant to
control pests, including weeds.
The term pesticide includes all of the following:
herbicide, insecticides (which may include
insect growth regulators, termiticides, etc.)
nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide,
rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent,
animal repellent, antimicrobial, and fungicide.
The most common of these are herbicides which
account for approximately 80% of all pesticide
use.
Most pesticides are intended to serve as plant
protection products (also known as crop protection
products), which in general, protect plants
from weeds, fungi, or insects.
In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological
agent (such as a virus, bacterium, or fungus)
that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise
discourages pests.
Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens,
weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes
(roundworms), and microbes that destroy property,
cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are
disease vectors.
Along with these benefits, pesticides also
have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity
to humans and other species.
== Definition ==
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
has defined 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 that 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.
Also used as substances applied to crops either
before or after harvest to protect the commodity
from deterioration during storage and transport.Pesticides
can be classified by target organism (e.g.,
herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides,
and pediculicides – see table), chemical
structure (e.g., organic, inorganic, synthetic,
or biological (biopesticide), although the
distinction can sometimes blur), and physical
state (e.g. gaseous (fumigant)).
Biopesticides include microbial pesticides
and biochemical pesticides.
Plant-derived pesticides, or "botanicals",
have been developing quickly.
These include the pyrethroids, rotenoids,
nicotinoids, and a fourth group that includes
strychnine and scilliroside.Many pesticides
can be grouped into chemical families.
Prominent insecticide families include organochlorines,
organophosphates, and carbamates.
Organochlorine hydrocarbons (e.g., DDT) could
be separated into dichlorodiphenylethanes,
cyclodiene compounds, and other related compounds.
They operate by disrupting the sodium/potassium
balance of the nerve fiber, forcing the nerve
to transmit continuously.
Their toxicities vary greatly, but they have
been phased out because of their persistence
and potential to bioaccumulate.
Organophosphate and carbamates largely replaced
organochlorines.
Both operate through inhibiting the enzyme
acetylcholinesterase, allowing acetylcholine
to transfer nerve impulses indefinitely and
causing a variety of symptoms such as weakness
or paralysis.
Organophosphates are quite toxic to vertebrates
and have in some cases been replaced by less
toxic carbamates.
Thiocarbamate and dithiocarbamates are subclasses
of carbamates.
Prominent families of herbicides include phenoxy
and benzoic acid herbicides (e.g. 2,4-D),
triazines (e.g., atrazine), ureas (e.g., diuron),
and Chloroacetanilides (e.g., alachlor).
Phenoxy compounds tend to selectively kill
broad-leaf weeds rather than grasses.
The phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides function
similar to plant growth hormones, and grow
cells without normal cell division, crushing
the plant's nutrient transport system.
Triazines interfere with photosynthesis.
Many commonly used pesticides are not included
in these families, including glyphosate.
The application of pest control agents is
usually carried out by dispersing the chemical
in a (often hydrocarbon-based) solvent-surfactant
system to give a homogeneous preparation.
A virus lethality study performed in 1977
demonstrated that a particular pesticide did
not increase the lethality of the virus, however
combinations which included some surfactants
and the solvent clearly showed that pretreatment
with them markedly increased the viral lethality
in the test mice.Pesticides can be classified
based upon their biological mechanism function
or application method.
Most pesticides work by poisoning pests.
A systemic pesticide moves inside a plant
following absorption by the plant.
With insecticides and most fungicides, this
movement is usually upward (through the xylem)
and outward.
Increased efficiency may be a result.
Systemic insecticides, which poison pollen
and nectar in the flowers, may kill bees and
other needed pollinators.In 2010, the development
of a new class of fungicides called paldoxins
was announced.
These work by taking advantage of natural
defense chemicals released by plants called
phytoalexins, which fungi then detoxify using
enzymes.
The paldoxins inhibit the fungi's detoxification
enzymes.
They are believed to be safer and greener.
== History ==
Since before 2000 BC, humans have utilized
pesticides to protect their crops.
The first known pesticide was elemental sulfur
dusting used in ancient Sumer about 4,500
years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.
The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old,
mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest
control.
By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such
as arsenic, mercury, and lead were being applied
to crops to kill pests.
In the 17th century, nicotine sulfate was
extracted from tobacco leaves for use as an
insecticide.
The 19th century saw the introduction of two
more natural pesticides, pyrethrum, which
is derived from chrysanthemums, and rotenone,
which is derived from the roots of tropical
vegetables.
Until the 1950s, arsenic-based pesticides
were dominant.
Paul Müller discovered that DDT was a very
effective insecticide.
Organochlorines such as DDT were dominant,
but they were replaced in the U.S. by organophosphates
and carbamates by 1975.
Since then, pyrethrin compounds have become
the dominant insecticide.
Herbicides became common in the 1960s, led
by "triazine and other nitrogen-based compounds,
carboxylic acids such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic
acid, and glyphosate".The first legislation
providing federal authority for regulating
pesticides was enacted in 1910; however, decades
later during the 1940s manufacturers began
to produce large amounts of synthetic pesticides
and their use became widespread.
Some sources consider the 1940s and 1950s
to have been the start of the "pesticide era."
Although the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency was established in 1970 and amendments
to the pesticide law in 1972, pesticide use
has increased 50-fold since 1950 and 2.3 million
tonnes (2.5 million short tons) of industrial
pesticides are now used each year.
Seventy-five percent of all pesticides in
the world are used in developed countries,
but use in developing countries is increasing.
A study of USA pesticide use trends through
1997 was published in 2003 by the National
Science Foundation's Center for Integrated
Pest Management.In the 1960s, it was discovered
that DDT was preventing many fish-eating birds
from reproducing, which was a serious threat
to biodiversity.
Rachel Carson wrote the best-selling book
Silent Spring about biological magnification.
The agricultural use of DDT is now banned
under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants, but it is still used in
some developing nations to prevent malaria
and other tropical diseases by spraying on
interior walls to kill or repel mosquitoes.
== Uses ==
Pesticides are used to control organisms that
are considered to be harmful.
For example, they are used to kill mosquitoes
that can transmit potentially deadly diseases
like West Nile virus, yellow fever, and malaria.
They can also kill bees, wasps or ants that
can cause allergic reactions.
Insecticides can protect animals from illnesses
that can be caused by parasites such as fleas.
Pesticides can prevent sickness in humans
that could be caused by moldy food or diseased
produce.
Herbicides can be used to clear roadside weeds,
trees, and brush.
They can also kill invasive weeds that may
cause environmental damage.
Herbicides are commonly applied in ponds and
lakes to control algae and plants such as
water grasses that can interfere with activities
like swimming and fishing and cause the water
to look or smell unpleasant.
Uncontrolled pests such as termites and mold
can damage structures such as houses.
Pesticides are used in grocery stores and
food storage facilities to manage rodents
and insects that infest food such as grain.
Each use of a pesticide carries some associated
risk.
Proper pesticide use decreases these associated
risks to a level deemed acceptable by pesticide
regulatory agencies such as the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)
of Canada.
DDT, sprayed on the walls of houses, is an
organochlorine that has been used to fight
malaria since the 1950s.
Recent policy statements by the World Health
Organization have given stronger support to
this approach.
However, DDT and other organochlorine pesticides
have been banned in most countries worldwide
because of their persistence in the environment
and human toxicity.
DDT use is not always effective, as resistance
to DDT was identified in Africa as early as
1955, and by 1972 nineteen species of mosquito
worldwide were resistant to DDT.
== Amount used ==
In 2006 and 2007, the world used approximately
2.4 megatonnes (5.3×109 lb) of pesticides,
with herbicides constituting the biggest part
of the world pesticide use at 40%, followed
by insecticides (17%) and fungicides (10%).
In 2006 and 2007 the U.S. used approximately
0.5 megatonnes (1.1×109 lb) of pesticides,
accounting for 22% of the world total, including
857 million pounds (389 kt) of conventional
pesticides, which are used in the agricultural
sector (80% of conventional pesticide use)
as well as the industrial, commercial, governmental
and home & garden sectors.
The state of California alone used 117 million
pounds.
Pesticides are also found in majority of U.S.
households with 88 million out of the 121.1
million households indicating that they use
some form of pesticide in 2012.
As of 2007, there were more than 1,055 active
ingredients registered as pesticides, which
yield over 20,000 pesticide products that
are marketed in the United States.The US used
some 1 kg (2.2 pounds) per hectare of arable
land compared with: 4.7 kg in China, 1.3 kg
in the UK, 0.1 kg in Cameroon, 5.9 kg in Japan
and 2.5 kg in Italy.
Insecticide use in the US has declined by
more than half since 1980 (.6%/yr), mostly
due to the near phase-out of organophosphates.
In corn fields, the decline was even steeper,
due to the switchover to transgenic Bt corn.For
the global market of crop protection products,
market analysts forecast revenues of over
52 billion US$ in 2019.
== Benefits ==
Pesticides can save farmers' money by preventing
crop losses to insects and other pests; in
the U.S., farmers get an estimated fourfold
return on money they spend on pesticides.
One study found that not using pesticides
reduced crop yields by about 10%.
Another study, conducted in 1999, found that
a ban on pesticides in the United States may
result in a rise of food prices, loss of jobs,
and an increase in world hunger.There are
two levels of benefits for pesticide use,
primary and secondary.
Primary benefits are direct gains from the
use of pesticides and secondary benefits are
effects that are more long-term.
=== 
Primary benefits ===
Controlling pests and plant disease vectors
Improved crop yields
Improved crop/livestock quality
Invasive species controlledControlling human/livestock
disease vectors and nuisance organisms
Human lives saved and disease reduced.
Diseases controlled include malaria, with
millions of lives having been saved or enhanced
with the use of DDT alone.
Animal lives saved and disease reducedControlling
organisms that harm other human activities
and structures
Drivers view unobstructed
Tree/brush/leaf hazards prevented
Wooden structures protected
=== 
Monetary ===
In one study, it was estimated that for every
dollar ($1) that is spent on pesticides for
crops can yield up to four dollars ($4) in
crops saved.
This means based that, on the amount of money
spent per year on pesticides, $10 billion,
there is an additional $40 billion savings
in crop that would be lost due to damage by
insects and weeds.
In general, farmers benefit from having an
increase in crop yield and from being able
to grow a variety of crops throughout the
year.
Consumers of agricultural products also benefit
from being able to afford the vast quantities
of produce available year-round.
== 
Costs ==
On the cost side of pesticide use there can
be costs to the environment, costs to human
health, as well as costs of the development
and research of new pesticides.
=== Health effects ===
Pesticides may cause acute and delayed health
effects in people who are exposed.
Pesticide exposure can cause a variety of
adverse health effects, ranging from simple
irritation of the skin and eyes to more severe
effects such as affecting the nervous system,
mimicking hormones causing reproductive problems,
and also causing cancer.
A 2007 systematic review found that "most
studies on non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia
showed positive associations with pesticide
exposure" and thus concluded that cosmetic
use of pesticides should be decreased.
There is substantial evidence of associations
between organophosphate insecticide exposures
and neurobehavioral alterations.
Limited evidence also exists for other negative
outcomes from pesticide exposure including
neurological, birth defects, and fetal death.The
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
limiting exposure of children to pesticides
and using safer alternatives:Owing to inadequate
regulation and safety precautions, 99% of
pesticide related deaths occur in developing
countries that account for only 25% of pesticide
usage.One study found pesticide self-poisoning
the method of choice in one third of suicides
worldwide, and recommended, among other things,
more restrictions on the types of pesticides
that are most harmful to humans.A 2014 epidemiological
review found associations between autism and
exposure to certain pesticides, but noted
that the available evidence was insufficient
to conclude that the relationship was causal.Large
quantities of presumably nontoxic petroleum
oil by-products are introduced into the environment
as pesticide dispersal agents and emulsifiers.
A 1976 study found that an increase in viral
lethality with a concomitant influence on
the liver and central nervous system occurs
in young mice previously primed with such
chemicals.The World Health Organization and
the UN Environment Programme estimate that
each year, 3 million workers in agriculture
in the developing world experience severe
poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of
whom die.
According to one study, as many as 25 million
workers in developing countries may suffer
mild pesticide poisoning yearly.
There are several careers aside from agriculture
that may also put individuals at risk of health
effects from pesticide exposure including
pet groomers, groundskeepers, and fumigators.Pesticide
use is widespread in Latin America, as around
US$3 billion are spent each year in the region.
It has been recorded that pesticide poisonings
have been increasing each year for the past
two decades.
It was estimated that 50–80% of the cases
are unreported.
It is indicated by studies that organophosphate
and carbamate insecticides are the most frequent
source of pesticide poisoning.
=== Environmental effects ===
Pesticide use raises a number of environmental
concerns.
Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of
herbicides reach a destination other than
their target species, including non-target
species, air, water and soil.
Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended
in the air as particles are carried by wind
to other areas, potentially contaminating
them.
Pesticides are one of the causes of water
pollution, and some pesticides are persistent
organic pollutants and contribute to soil
and flower (pollen, nectar) contamination.
In addition, pesticide use reduces biodiversity,
contributes to pollinator decline, destroys
habitat (especially for birds), and threatens
endangered species.Pests can develop a resistance
to the pesticide (pesticide resistance), necessitating
a new pesticide.
Alternatively a greater dose of the pesticide
can be used to counteract the resistance,
although this will cause a worsening of the
ambient pollution problem.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants, listed 9 of the 12 most dangerous
and persistent organic chemicals that were
(now mostly obsolete) organochlorine pesticides.
Since chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides dissolve
in fats and are not excreted, organisms tend
to retain them almost indefinitely.
Biological magnification is the process whereby
these chlorinated hydrocarbons (pesticides)
are more concentrated at each level of the
food chain.
Among marine animals, pesticide concentrations
are higher in carnivorous fishes, and even
more so in the fish-eating birds and mammals
at the top of the ecological pyramid.
Global distillation is the process whereby
pesticides are transported from warmer to
colder regions of the Earth, in particular
the Poles and mountain tops.
Pesticides that evaporate into the atmosphere
at relatively high temperature can be carried
considerable distances (thousands of kilometers)
by the wind to an area of lower temperature,
where they condense and are carried back to
the ground in rain or snow.In order to reduce
negative impacts, it is desirable that pesticides
be degradable or at least quickly deactivated
in the environment.
Such loss of activity or toxicity of pesticides
is due to both innate chemical properties
of the compounds and environmental processes
or conditions.
For example, the presence of halogens within
a chemical structure often slows down degradation
in an aerobic environment.
Adsorption to soil may retard pesticide movement,
but also may reduce bioavailability to microbial
degraders.
=== Economics ===
In one study, the human health and environmental
costs due to pesticides in the United States
was estimated to be $9.6 billion: offset by
about $40 billion in increased agricultural
production.Additional costs include the registration
process and the cost of purchasing pesticides:
which are typically borne by agrichemical
companies and farmers respectively.
The registration process can take several
years to complete (there are 70 different
types of field test) and can cost $50–70
million for a single pesticide.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the
United States spent approximately $10 billion
on pesticides annually.
== Alternatives ==
Alternatives to pesticides are available and
include methods of cultivation, use of biological
pest controls (such as pheromones and microbial
pesticides), genetic engineering, and methods
of interfering with insect breeding.
Application of composted yard waste has also
been used as a way of controlling pests.
These methods are becoming increasingly popular
and often are safer than traditional chemical
pesticides.
In addition, EPA is registering reduced-risk
conventional pesticides in increasing numbers.
Cultivation practices include polyculture
(growing multiple types of plants), crop rotation,
planting crops in areas where the pests that
damage them do not live, timing planting according
to when pests will be least problematic, and
use of trap crops that attract pests away
from the real crop.
Trap crops have successfully controlled pests
in some commercial agricultural systems while
reducing pesticide usage; however, in many
other systems, trap crops can fail to reduce
pest densities at a commercial scale, even
when the trap crop works in controlled experiments.
In the U.S., farmers have had success controlling
insects by spraying with hot water at a cost
that is about the same as pesticide spraying.Release
of other organisms that fight the pest is
another example of an alternative to pesticide
use.
These organisms can include natural predators
or parasites of the pests.
Biological pesticides based on entomopathogenic
fungi, bacteria and viruses cause disease
in the pest species can also be used.Interfering
with insects' reproduction can be accomplished
by sterilizing males of the target species
and releasing them, so that they mate with
females but do not produce offspring.
This technique was first used on the screwworm
fly in 1958 and has since been used with the
medfly, the tsetse fly, and the gypsy moth.
However, this can be a costly, time consuming
approach that only works on some types of
insects.
=== Push pull strategy ===
The term "push-pull" was established in 1987
as an approach for integrated pest management
(IPM).
This strategy uses a mixture of behavior-modifying
stimuli to manipulate the distribution and
abundance of insects.
"Push" means the insects are repelled or deterred
away from whatever resource that is being
protected.
"Pull" means that certain stimuli (semiochemical
stimuli, pheromones, food additives, visual
stimuli, genetically altered plants, etc.)
are used to attract pests to trap crops where
they will be killed.
There are numerous different components involved
in order to implement a Push-Pull Strategy
in IPM.
Many case studies testing the effectiveness
of the push-pull approach have been done across
the world.
The most successful push-pull strategy was
developed in Africa for subsistence farming.
Another successful case study was performed
on the control of Helicoverpa in cotton crops
in Australia.
In Europe, the Middle East, and the United
States, push-pull strategies were successfully
used in the controlling of Sitona lineatus
in bean fields.Some advantages of using the
push-pull method are less use of chemical
or biological materials and better protection
against insect habituation to this control
method.
Some disadvantages of the push-pull strategy
is that if there is a lack of appropriate
knowledge of behavioral and chemical ecology
of the host-pest interactions then this method
becomes unreliable.
Furthermore, because the push-pull method
is not a very popular method of IPM operational
and registration costs are higher.
=== Effectiveness ===
Some evidence shows that alternatives to pesticides
can be equally effective as the use of chemicals.
For example, Sweden has halved its use of
pesticides with hardly any reduction in crops.
In Indonesia, farmers have reduced pesticide
use on rice fields by 65% and experienced
a 15% crop increase.
A study of Maize fields in northern Florida
found that the application of composted yard
waste with high carbon to nitrogen ratio to
agricultural fields was highly effective at
reducing the population of plant-parasitic
nematodes and increasing crop yield, with
yield increases ranging from 10% to 212%;
the observed effects were long-term, often
not appearing until the third season of the
study.However, pesticide resistance is increasing.
In the 1940s, U.S. farmers lost only 7% of
their crops to pests.
Since the 1980s, loss has increased to 13%,
even though more pesticides are being used.
Between 500 and 1,000 insect and weed species
have developed pesticide resistance since
1945.
== Types ==
Pesticides are often referred to according
to the type of pest they control.
Pesticides can also be considered as either
biodegradable pesticides, which will be broken
down by microbes and other living beings into
harmless compounds, or persistent pesticides,
which may take months or years before they
are broken down: it was the persistence of
DDT, for example, which led to its accumulation
in the food chain and its killing of birds
of prey at the top of the food chain.
Another way to think about pesticides is to
consider those that are chemical pesticides
are derived from a common source or production
method.
=== Insecticides ===
Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active
insecticides chemically similar to nicotine.
Imidacloprid, of the neonicotanoid family,
is the most widely used insecticide in the
world.
In the late 1990s neonicotinoids came under
increasing scrutiny over their environmental
impact and were linked in a range of studies
to adverse ecological effects, including honey-bee
colony collapse disorder (CCD) and loss of
birds due to a reduction in insect populations.
In 2013, the European Union and a few non
EU countries restricted the use of certain
neonicotinoids.Organophosphate and carbamate
insecticides have a similar mode of action.
They affect the nervous system of target pests
(and non-target organisms) by disrupting acetylcholinesterase
activity, the enzyme that regulates acetylcholine,
at nerve synapses.
This inhibition causes an increase in synaptic
acetylcholine and over-stimulation of the
parasympathetic nervous system.
Many of these insecticides, first developed
in the mid 20th century, are very poisonous.
Although commonly used in the past, many older
chemicals have been removed from the market
due to their health and environmental effects
(e.g. DDT, chlordane, and toxaphene).
However, many organophosphates are not persistent
in the environment.
Pyrethroid insecticides were developed as
a synthetic version of the naturally occurring
pesticide pyrethrin, which is found in chrysanthemums.
They have been modified to increase their
stability in the environment.
Some synthetic pyrethroids are toxic to the
nervous system.
=== Herbicides ===
A number of sulfonylureas have been commercialized
for weed control, including: amidosulfuron,
flazasulfuron, metsulfuron-methyl, rimsulfuron,
sulfometuron-methyl, terbacil, nicosulfuron,
and triflusulfuron-methyl.
These are broad-spectrum herbicides that kill
plants weeds or pests by inhibiting the enzyme
acetolactate synthase.
In the 1960s, more than 1 kg/ha (0.89 lb/acre)
crop protection chemical was typically applied,
while sulfonylureates allow as little as 1%
as much material to achieve the same effect.
=== Biopesticides ===
Biopesticides are certain types of pesticides
derived from such natural materials as animals,
plants, bacteria, and certain minerals.
For example, canola oil and baking soda have
pesticidal applications and are considered
biopesticides.
Biopesticides fall into three major classes:
Microbial pesticides which consist of bacteria,
entomopathogenic fungi or viruses (and sometimes
includes the metabolites that bacteria or
fungi produce).
Entomopathogenic nematodes are also often
classed as microbial pesticides, even though
they are multi-cellular.
Biochemical pesticides or herbal pesticides
are naturally occurring substances that control
(or monitor in the case of pheromones) pests
and microbial diseases.
Plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) have
genetic material from other species incorporated
into their genetic material (i.e.
GM crops).
Their use is controversial, especially in
many European countries.
=== Classified by type of pest ===
Pesticides that are related to the type of
pests are:
=== Further types ===
The term pesticide also include these substances:
Defoliants: Cause leaves or other foliage
to drop from a plant, usually to facilitate
harvest.
Desiccants: Promote drying of living tissues,
such as unwanted plant tops.
Insect growth regulators: Disrupt the molting,
maturity from pupal stage to adult, or other
life processes of insects.
Plant growth regulators: Substances (excluding
fertilizers or other plant nutrients) that
alter the expected growth, flowering, or reproduction
rate of plants.
Wood preservatives: They are used to make
wood resistant to insects, fungus, and other
pests.
== Regulation ==
=== 
International ===
In many countries, pesticides must be approved
for sale and use by a government agency.In
Europe, EU legislation has been approved banning
the use of highly toxic pesticides including
those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or
toxic to reproduction, those that are endocrine-disrupting,
and those that are persistent, bioaccumulative
and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very
bioaccumulative (vPvB) and measures have been
approved to improve the general safety of
pesticides across all EU member states.Though
pesticide regulations differ from country
to country, pesticides, and products on which
they were used are traded across international
borders.
To deal with inconsistencies in regulations
among countries, delegates to a conference
of the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization adopted an International Code
of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of
Pesticides in 1985 to create voluntary standards
of pesticide regulation for different countries.
The Code was updated in 1998 and 2002.
The FAO claims that the code has raised awareness
about pesticide hazards and decreased the
number of countries without restrictions on
pesticide use.Three other efforts to improve
regulation of international pesticide trade
are the United Nations London Guidelines for
the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in
International Trade and the United Nations
Codex Alimentarius Commission.
The former seeks to implement procedures for
ensuring that prior informed consent exists
between countries buying and selling pesticides,
while the latter seeks to create uniform standards
for maximum levels of pesticide residues among
participating countries.Pesticides safety
education and pesticide applicator regulation
are designed to protect the public from pesticide
misuse, but do not eliminate all misuse.
Reducing the use of pesticides and choosing
less toxic pesticides may reduce risks placed
on society and the environment from pesticide
use.
Integrated pest management, the use of multiple
approaches to control pests, is becoming widespread
and has been used with success in countries
such as Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, the
U.S., Australia, and Mexico.
IPM attempts to recognize the more widespread
impacts of an action on an ecosystem, so that
natural balances are not upset.
New pesticides are being developed, including
biological and botanical derivatives and alternatives
that are thought to reduce health and environmental
risks.
In addition, applicators are being encouraged
to consider alternative controls and adopt
methods that reduce the use of chemical pesticides.
Pesticides can be created that are targeted
to a specific pest's lifecycle, which can
be environmentally more friendly.
For example, potato cyst nematodes emerge
from their protective cysts in response to
a chemical excreted by potatoes; they feed
on the potatoes and damage the crop.
A similar chemical can be applied to fields
early, before the potatoes are planted, causing
the nematodes to emerge early and starve in
the absence of potatoes.
=== United States ===
In the United States, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating
pesticides under the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and
the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).Studies
must be conducted to establish the conditions
in which the material is safe to use and the
effectiveness against the intended pest(s).
The EPA regulates pesticides to ensure that
these products do not pose adverse effects
to humans or the environment, with an emphasis
on the health and safety of children.
Pesticides produced before November 1984 continue
to be reassessed in order to meet the current
scientific and regulatory standards.
All registered pesticides are reviewed every
15 years to ensure they meet the proper standards.
During the registration process, a label is
created.
The label contains directions for proper use
of the material in addition to safety restrictions.
Based on acute toxicity, pesticides are assigned
to a Toxicity Class.
Pesticides are the most thoroughly tested
chemicals after drugs in the United States;
those used on food requires more than 100
tests to determine a range of potential impacts.Some
pesticides are considered too hazardous for
sale to the general public and are designated
restricted use pesticides.
Only certified applicators, who have passed
an exam, may purchase or supervise the application
of restricted use pesticides.
Records of sales and use are required to be
maintained and may be audited by government
agencies charged with the enforcement of pesticide
regulations.
These records must be made available to employees
and state or territorial environmental regulatory
agencies.In addition to the EPA, the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
the United States Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) set standards for the level of pesticide
residue that is allowed on or in crops.
The EPA looks at what the potential human
health and environmental effects might be
associated with the use of the pesticide.In
addition, the U.S. EPA uses the National Research
Council's four-step process for human health
risk assessment: (1) Hazard Identification,
(2) Dose-Response Assessment, (3) Exposure
Assessment, and (4) Risk Characterization.Recently
Kaua'i County (Hawai'i) passed Bill No. 2491
to add an article to Chapter 22 of the county's
code relating to pesticides and GMOs.
The bill strengthens protections of local
communities in Kaua'i where many large pesticide
companies test their products.
=== Canada ===
=== EU ===
== Residue ==
Pesticide residue refers to the pesticides
that may remain on or in food after they are
applied to food crops.
The maximum allowable levels of these residues
in foods are often stipulated by regulatory
bodies in many countries.
Regulations such as pre-harvest intervals
also often prevent harvest of crop or livestock
products if recently treated in order to allow
residue concentrations to decrease over time
to safe levels before harvest.
Exposure of the general population to these
residues most commonly occurs through consumption
of treated food sources, or being in close
contact to areas treated with pesticides such
as farms or lawns.Many of these chemical residues,
especially derivatives of chlorinated pesticides,
exhibit bioaccumulation which could build
up to harmful levels in the body as well as
in the environment.
Persistent chemicals can be magnified through
the food chain and have been detected in products
ranging from meat, poultry, and fish, to vegetable
oils, nuts, and various fruits and vegetables.Pesticide
contamination in the environment can be monitored
through bioindicators such as bee pollinators.
== See also ==
Index of pesticide articles
Pesticide residue
Pesticide standard value
Pest control
WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme
