Hundreds of years ago, when chemical pesticides were rare or nonexistent, farmers
protected their crops through changes in growing practices and other actions. With
their advent some six decades ago, pesticides became the primary means to control
crop losses due to a variety of pests. In agriculture, pesticides will have to remain part
of pest management strategies because alternatives or safer chemical pesticides may
not be available or affordable for all farmers. Pesticides are likely to be an economic
necessity for most farmers and growers. However, consumers continue to indicate
support for a reduction in pesticide residues not only in food but also in the wider
environment. Unfortunately, the new generation of environmentally friendly pesti-
cides exhibits many of the same patterns as conventional pesticides, including resis-
tance from targeted species and harm to non-targeted species. It is likely that the
banning of traditional pesticides will continue and that those that remain will have
further restrictions placed on how they can be used.
The EPA is approving new pesticides for use. However, these approvals often occur
before scientists have the opportunity to determine how best to use them in IPM
programs. While newer pesticides are typically safer to humans and the environment
and are usually more selective, that is, they impact pests to a greater degree than nat-
ural enemies, they are also less effective than the products they replace.
The most obvious danger to human health from pesticides is through accidental
poisonings. Chronic illness appears to arouse the greatest concern, especially the pos-
sibility of harm to children. What seems to worry people more is that long-term
exposures to extremely small quantities of pesticides may be dangerous. Some experts
argue that tiny amounts of pesticides in the foods people eat could lead to cancer and
other illnesses that develop over a long period of exposure. Pesticides are in the mid-
dle of a tug-of-war. Because they are poisons, many people don’t want them around,
yet their value in protecting crops and combating pests cannot be denied.
Given this conflict, making precise predictions about pesticide use is difficult, but
it is possible to discern some trends. Scientists and pesticide manufacturers will
engage in a persistent quest to design and develop a range of safer pesticides, and
evolve new and novel strategies to control insect pests and minimize crop damages.
Clearly, the strong government regulation that took shape in the 1970s will continue.
The United States is unlikely ever to go back to the days of government-encouraged
spraying without limits, or allow pesticides to be invented and marketed without
stringent requirements for testing and labeling. The rest of the world is moving in
that direction as well. Change is a fact of life.
Notes
- Lawrie Mott et al., ‘‘Our Children At Risk: The Five Worst Environmental
Threats To Their Health, Chapter 5: Pesticides’’ (Washington, D.C.: Natural Resour-
ces Defense Council, September 16, 2004) (46): 141–146. - Robert Repetto and Sanjay S. Baluga,Pesticides and the Immune System: The Public
Health Risks(Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute, September 2004): 1,478–1,484.
The Pesticide Problem | 21