the perceived) benefits of pesticides, along with questions about environmental and
public health risks.^13
The pathways of human exposure to pesticides are numerous. Pesticide residues
are found virtually everywhere: in the office and home, on food, in drinking
water, and in the air.^14 Throughout more than a half century of pesticide use,
most pesticides have never been systematically reviewed to evaluate their full range
of long-term health effects on humans, such as potential damage to the nervous,
endocrine, or immune systems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) con-
siders only cancers in determining the potential threat of pesticides to human
health. Until recently, cancer has been considered the most sensitive end point—if
you could prevent cancer, you could prevent other chronic diseases. Furthermore,
scientists have been able to develop the model by which they can extrapolate can-
cer data from animal studies. The concept that cancer is the most sensitive end
point is now being seriously questioned. The effects of pesticides on wildlife are
also not well documented. It wasn’t until 1985 that the EPA reviewed an insecti-
cide solely on the basis of its effects on wildlife.^15 Since then, the EPA has
banned some pesticides based partially on their effects on the environment and
wildlife. Discoveries of pesticide residues have also resulted in fishing bans in bays,
lakes, and rivers.^16
Agricultural pesticides have prevented pest damage of between 5 percent and 30
percent of potential production in many crops.^17 Pesticides, however, have posed a
number of problems for agriculture, including the killing of beneficial insects, sec-
ondary pest outbreaks, and the development of pesticide-resistant pests.^18 Several
studies have shown a decrease in the effectiveness of pesticides. According to one
study, 7 percent of U.S. agricultural production was lost to pests in the 1950s; in
1993, 13 percent of all production was lost to pests.^19 A different study concluded
that crop losses from pests increased from 30 percent in 1945 to 37 percent in 1990.
During that same period farmers used thirty-three times more pesticides.^20
Today, 440 species of insects and mites and more than seventy fungi are now re-
sistant to some pesticides.^21 Consequently, it has become necessary to use larger doses
and more frequent applications of pesticides. Combining pesticides, or substituting
more expensive, toxic, or ecologically hazardous pesticides, occurs more frequently. In
addition to the problem of pesticide resistance, millions of dollars worth of crops
have been lost as a result of improper pesticide application.^22
Health Effects on Children
Pesticides have been associated with the development of certain cancers in children,
including leukemia, sarcomas, and brain tumors. Many classes of pesticides have been
shown to adversely affect the developing nervous system of animals used in experi-
ments. Parental exposure to pesticides has been linked with birth defects in children.
New studies suggest that pesticides may compromise the immune systems of infants
and children. Children are exposed to pesticides at home, at school, in playgrounds
The Pesticide Problem | 3