DEFINATION:

Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage
an organism.

INTRODUCTION:
Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as
the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ such as the liver kidney. By
extension, the word may be metaphorically used to describe toxic effects on larger and more complex
groups, such as the family unit or society at large. Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with
poisoning in everyday usage.

TYPES:
There are generally four types of toxicity; chemical, biological, physical and radiation:

Chemical toxicants include inorganic substances such as, lead, mercury, hydrofluoric acid, and chlorine
gas, and organic compounds such as methyl alcohol, most medications, and poisons from living things.

Disease-causing microorganisms and parasites are toxic in a broad sense, but are generally called
pathogens rather than toxicants. The biological toxicity of pathogens can be difficult to measure because
the "threshold dose" may be a single organism. Theoretically one virus, bacterium or worm can
reproduce to cause a serious infection. However, in a host with an intact immune system the inherent
toxicity of the organism is balanced by the host's ability to fight back; the effective toxicity is then a
combination of both parts of the relationship. In some cases, e.g. cholera, the disease is chiefly caused
by a nonliving substance secreted by the organism, rather than the organism itself. Such nonliving
biological toxicants are generally called toxins if produced by a microorganism, plant, or fungus, and
venoms if produced by an animal.

Physical toxicants are substances that, due to their physical nature, interfere with biological processes.
Examples include coal dust or finely divided silicon dioxide, all of which can ultimately be fatal if inhaled.
Corrosive chemicals possess physical toxicity because they destroy tissues. Water can also act as a
physical toxicant.

Radioactive material like radium and uranium cause radiation poisoning.

FOOD TOXICITY:
Food toxicity is a term referred to the toxins of food. In regular routine it is also known as Food
poisoning. It is studied under the term of biological toxins. Food toxins include such materials that
produces poison in food item, which causes adverse effect if consumed.

AGRICULTURAL TOXINS IN FOOD:

Food toxicity can be caused by different means. One of them is agricultural toxins.
DEF:
A chemical substance that cause toxicity in crops is known as Agricultural toxin.

Now a days as population of developing countries are increasing day by day so, to meet the needs of
food and to produce more food farmers are using different kind of fertilizers and pesticides on their
crops. So that they can get more yield in short time.

Use of these kind of things is not always useful. Over or under usage of these substances causes various
adverse effects on crops which may lead to food toxicity in future when they are consumed.

Agricultural toxins includes

Lead

Cadmium

Arsenic

PESTICIDES:
A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or
mitigating any pest (epa.gov). Pests can be defined as any organism that causes plant diseases.
Agricultural pesticides are then those chemicals that are used by farmers to prevent the effectivity of
the pests on the growth and productivity of agricultural crops.

Pesticides are either restricted or unclassified.

Restricted means it can cause harm to humans or the environment.

Unclassified refers to all other pesticides.

Pesticides are made up of active and inert ingredients.

Pesticides can be incredibly beneficial and have most certainly increased food production.

Yet many times their detrimental effects outweigh the positive ones. Pesticides can be extremely
hazardous to the human body and other living organisms, as they are designed to be a poison.

It also includes insecticides and herbicides.

Transport of Agricultural Pesticides :

Pesticides can be transported to humans or other organisms in a variety of ways. It is near to impossible
for the pesticide to only affect its targeted crop.

-Wind is one transportation method. The wind picks up the pesticides and can blow them onto other
farms or into rivers.

-It can be absorbed into the soil and then taken up by other organisms or can contaminate the surface
and groundwater that run over/through it.
- Pesticides are then absorbed by the plants which is detrimental to the growth of the plants.

- That which is not absorbed usually remains on the surface and flows into streams as surface runoff. It
is dissolved into the water and then can be taken in by plants and animals.

Impacts on Human Health :

An estimated 2.2 million people are at risk due to exposure from agricultural pesticides, with the
majority of this population being locating in developing nations.

Pesticides can enter the human body through inhalation, ingestion, or by dermal penetration through
the skin. The majority of average citizens who are effected by the pesticides intake the pesticide through
consumption of a food that was been contaminated with a pesticide.

"In 1958, all members of the family of a local chief who is a prominent cocoa farmer at Okebode in
southwestern Nigeria were hospitalized after eating a leaf vegetable undergrowth of a cocoa farm that
was earlier sprayed by lindane.

In 2004, carbofuran pesticide residues found on several batches of noodles manufactured in Nigeria
may have resulted in 23 reported cases of vomiting and one death"

Scope of the problem:

Pesticides are among the leading causes of death by self-poisoning, in particular in low- and middle-
income countries.

As they are intrinsically toxic and deliberately spread in the environment, the production, distribution,
and use of pesticides require strict regulation and control. Regular monitoring of residues in food and
the environment is also required.

WHO has two objectives in relation to pesticides:

to ban pesticides that are most toxic to humans, as well as pesticides that remain for the longest time in
the environment.

to protect public health by setting maximum limits for pesticide residues in food and water.

CATEGORIES:
Pesticides may be unscheduled, or may be listed in Schedules 5, 6 or 7.

Unscheduled: These are very low in toxicity and are unlikely to cause harm to humans, provided they are
used in accordance with label directions, most aerosol cans fall within this area.

S5 Pesticides: These have low toxicity and available to the public but require caution in handling, use
and storage.

S6 Pesticides: These have moderate toxicity and available to the public and also require caution in use,
handling and storage.
S7 Pesticides: These have high to very high toxicity. These pesticides are extremely hazardous and
dangerous to health and have a high potential for causing harm at low exposures. They require special
labelling, handling and use and are not available to the general public.

Pesticides undergo laboratory tests to establish their level of toxicity. The chemical is tested on ‘test
animals’, such as rats, mice and rabbits, to see how much chemical is needed to kill an animal. These
tests establish the pesticide's LD50 (lethal or killing dose).

The lower the LD5O the more toxic (more poisonous) the chemical.

DISEASES CAUSED BY PESTICIDES:

Pesticides cause following diseases:

Headaches

Blurred vision

Vomiting

Abdominal pain

Suppress the immune system

Lead to blood and liver diseases

Depression

Asthma

Nerve damage

Cancer

Leukaemia

Parkinson’s disease

Hyperactivity disorder

Prevention or Mitigation :

The easiest way to prevent the spread and abundance of agricultural pesticides is through education. If
more farmers, especially in developing countries, knew about the risks of these pesticides, they would
be more careful in the way that they use the pesticides and the protection that the sprayers wear.
Another way is to adopt the Integrated Pesticide Management program which "emphasizes non
chemical and cultural pest control strategies such as removal of diseased plant parts, crop rotation that
may disrupt the life cycle of pests, and biological control such as the use of insect predators"
CONTROL:
Nobody should be exposed to unsafe amounts of pesticide.

People spreading pesticide on crops, in homes, or in gardens should be adequately protected.

Food that is sold or donated should comply with pesticide regulations, in particular with maximum
residue limits.

Organic food should be preferred.

Consumers can further limit their intake of pesticide residues by peeling or washing fruit and vegetables,
which also reduces other foodborne hazards, such as harmful bacteria.

ORGANIZATIONS AND PEOPLE WORKING ON PROBLEMS:

WHO, in collaboration with FAO, is responsible for assessing the risks to humans of pesticides – both
through direct exposure, and through residues in food – and for recommending adequate protections.

Risk assessments for pesticide residues in food are conducted by an independent, international expert
scientific group, the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR). These assessments are
based on all of the data submitted for national registrations of pesticides worldwide as well as all
scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals. After assessing the level of risk, the JMPR
establishes limits for safe intake to ensure that the amount of pesticide residue people are exposed to
through eating food over their lifetime will not result in adverse health effects.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,1962.

Rachel Carson had a masters in Zoology and worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 15 years.
Carson published many books on ecology but her most famous was published in 1962. Silent Spring
displays the harmful effects of agriculture pesticides such as DDT. This book was intended to educate
the scientific community as well as the general public. It is the perfect example of a widely used
agricultural pesticide that was not known to be harmful, the publication led to the subsequent banning
of this pesticide in the U.S. and most other developed nations.

Van Den Bosch, Robert. The Pesticide Conspiracy. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989.

Robert Van Den Bosch is a professor at the University of California and has conducted research exploring
the harmful effects of agricultural pesticides. In his book he explains how truly detrimental these
pesticides are and advocates for the end of their use. As this book was published in 1989, Van Den Bosch
received much criticism from the pesticide industry and many supporting government officials as the
detrimental effects were not very well known at that time.

PUBLICATIONS AND SEMINAR:

WHO and FAO have jointly developed an International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management. The
most recent edition of the voluntary framework was published in 2014. It guides government regulators,
the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders on best practices in managing pesticides
throughout their lifecycle – from production to disposal.

REFERENCES USED:

https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-
cnt-l~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch5~ohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch5.5

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/pesticide-residues-in-food

https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/pesticides.html