Usefulness and Harms of Pesticides in USA & Mexico



Usefulness and Harms of Pesticides in USA & Mexico

Introduction

Pesticides are substances whose termination of the name "cide" indicates that they designed to kill living things. Pesticides, sometimes called pesticides or plant protection products, (according to UIPP - Union of Industrial and Plant Protection), are used in agriculture to get rid of insects ( insecticides ), diseases caused by fungi ( fungicides ) and / or competing grasses (these are the herbicides ) etc.

A pesticide is composed of an active ingredient of natural or synthetic origin. Pesticides marketed (or commercial products) are composed of one or more active ingredients which are added other substances: dilution products, surfactants, synergisants ... to improve efficiency and facilitate their use.

Discussion

The first pesticide DDT was synthesized; its insecticidal properties were discovered by Muller in 1939. Authorized for U.S. marketing in 1945, expands to the world, starting also search for multiple compound analogy. In 1998 the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S. had 20,000 registered commercial products. Classification: According to acute toxicity, pesticides can be extremely dangerous, highly dangerous, moderate, slightly hazardous and dangerous. According to its half-life, may be permanent, persistent, moderate persistent and not persistent. Given its chemical structure, are classified in different families, such as organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids.

Agriculture has a variety and richness difficult to find in the world. This is partly due to the vastness of the country and the bounty of nature, since only a relatively small area in the west is deserts because of the lack of rain and snow. In the rest of the country, ranging from scarce rainfall to abundant and rivers and groundwater allow irrigation when necessary. Large areas of flat or gently rolling plains especially in large plants provide ideal conditions to stop large-scale agriculture. Currently, the average farm has about 180 hectares.

The leap from small subsistence farms of the past to the current mix of small family farms and the "mega-farms" high technology has been very great. To understand this we must know the development of agriculture in the U.S. and explore the strengths and weaknesses of this as it exists today.

Types of pesticides

a) Organochlorine

These pesticides (like DDT - Insecticide organochlorine banned in Europe since 1972) are from the chlorine industry, those are for most POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) and some are part of the "dirty dozen" substances introduced by UN (United Nations) in the Stockholm Convention

These pesticides are normally prohibited for use in France because of their persistent characters and bio accumables have irreparable consequences on health and the environment.

The use of organochlorine pesticides in agriculture has boomed until the early sixties. Since the revelation of Rachel Carson, but his book "Silent Spring" production of these pesticides was reduced but is still found throughout the environment: air, water, in fish and in the body ... human.

b) The organophosphate insecticides, pyrethroids

1) Insecticides and other chemicals

Organophosphates are pesticides that have a common mode of action on the nervous system of ...