Pesticide Use

When was the last time you ate corn or an apple?  There's a good chance that it wasn't that long ago.  Unless you specifically picked up the fruits or vegetables marked "ORGANIC," it's highly possible that you ate some pesticide residue.  It's hard to stay away from these pest-killing poisons as they are found in corn, apples, oranges, wheat, soybeans, and many other farming products.*  The liquid substances that are used to keep insects and other pests away from crops are applied to fields with the help of large tractors or airplanes.  Below is a picture that depicts a field being sprayed with pesticides.

Image courtesy of http://greenbuckeyern.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/pesticide.jpg

 

 

Most people would think that if these liquids are dumped on almost every food we eat then they are guaranteed to be safe for humans.  Unfortunately, the exact opposite is true.  The chemicals farmers put onto their crops are extremely unhealthy for humans to both digest and be exposed to.*  This means that every time you eat fruit or vegetables, drink milk, or walk near a field that has been sprayed with pesticides, you are putting yourself at risk.  The next problem is to figure out how terrible the risk truly is.

 

Typically, risks that are discussed are the worst case scenarios.  With pesticide exposure, this could also be the case although there are also some smaller issues that arise.  Some of the problems that could occur include Parkinson Disease, extreme sweating, inability to walk, uncontrollable urination, and nausea to name a few.**  Problems worsen when a pregnant woman is exposed to pesticides.  Then, not only is the woman in danger, her unborn child is at risk of being born defective.  This means the child could be born with a cleft lip, limb defects, or even lifelong heart problems.**  There are not very many mothers in the world who would want their child to be different than other children for their entire life because of their own mistakes.

 

What do all these issues mean for us, the people who actually digest pesticides?  Basically, it tells that we are doing harm to our bodies with most of the things that we eat.  Not every case of pesticide exposure is fatal.  Actually, 220,000 people die worldwide every year because of pesticides.*  This is a huge number of people, but it isn't near as much as other killers, such as cancer.  Most times, pesticide exposure leads to symptoms like those of the common cold or flu.**  Because of these similarities, symptoms tend to be overlooked as people think they are just experiencing a cold instead of pesticide poisoning.

 

Although food is put through tests to make sure that it has a safe amount of pesticides in it, not all fruits and veggies listen to this rule.  The video below shows a few commonly eaten foods and some facts about the chemicals in them.

 

 

It is important that people understand how pesticides can damage their bodies to further protect ourselves from unwanted illnesses.  Exposure to and extreme digestion of pesticides can lead to many harmful consequences, including death.  Next time you decide to pick up some blueberries or an orange, remember what kinds of pesticides could be hiding in your "healthy" food and don't forget to make it known to those around you as well.  If anything bad happens to them because of something that you could have warned them of, how would you feel about it?  Not to completely turn you away from vegetables and fruits, just eat them in good portions and try to eat as much organic material as possible to keep yourself safe when it comes to pesticides.

 

 

 

 





 

* Pesticides and food: What you need to know. (2012, May 9). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from www.epa.gov/pesticides/food

**Wu, X.M., Bennett, D.H., Ritz, B., Tancredi, D.J., & Hertz-Picciotto, I. (2013). Temporal variation of residential pesticide use and comparison of two survey platforms: A longitudinal study among households with young children in Northern California. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 12(1), 2.