Pesticide:

Pesticide is a chemical or biological agent that

deters, incapacitates, kills or otherwise discourages
pests.

Target pests include Insects, Plant pathogens,

Weeds, Nematodes, Mollusks, Rodents etc.

Pesticides are accordingly named as Insecticides,

Fungicides, Bactericides, Herbicides, Nematicides,
Molluscicides, Rodenticides etc.

Pesticide Misuse

Pesticide misuse is the use of pesticide in a way that violates laws

regulating their use or endangers humans or the environment.

The law regulating the use of pesticide in United States is Federal

Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

The various kinds of pesticide misuse are:

Application inconsistent with labelling.

Changing dosages rates.

Violating specific safety instruction.

Selling or using an unregistered pesticide.

Sale and use of adulterated or misbranded pesticides.

Use of restricted pesticides.

The impacts or consequences of pesticide misuse is termed as

Pesticide Hazard.

Hazards of Pesticide

Direct impact on human health.

Impact through food commodities.

Impact on environment.

Surface water contamination.

Ground water contamination.

Soil Contamination.

Effect on soil fertility (Beneficial soil

microorganisms.)

Contamination of air, soil and non-target vegetation.

Direct impact on human

health

The world-wide deaths and chronic diseases due to pesticide poisoning

counts about 1 million per year (Environews forum, 1999).

The high risk groups exposed to pesticides include Production workers,

Formulators, Sprayers, Mixers, Loaders and Agricultural farm workers.

Effects on human health include:

Immune Supression

Hormone distruption

Diminished Intelligence

Reproductive Abnormalities

Cancer etc.

Impact through food

commodities

Pesticide residue may remain on or in food after

they are applied to food crops.

Mostly chlorinated pesticides exhibit

bioaccumulation which could build up to harmful
levels in the body.

The highest value found in 1996 was for

compound of the Maneb group in Lettuce which
corresponded to Mancozeb residue of 118 mg/Kg.

Impact on environment

Air Pollution.

Pollute the drinking water source and Aquatic

system.

Reduces the general biological diversity of soil.

Nitrogen fixation is hindered by pesticides on soil.

Pesticides can kill bees and are strongly implicated

in pollinator decline.

Pesticide can eliminate some animals essential food

source causing the animals to relocate, change their
diet or starve.

Surface water
contamination

Pesticide can reach the surface water through

runoff from treated plants and soil.

The studies done by U.S. Geological survey

(USGS) showed that more than 90 percent of
water and fish samples from all streams contained
one, or more often, several pesticides (Kole et al;
2001).

The herbicide 2,4-D was the most commonly

found pesticide in streams.

Ground water
contamination

According to USGC, 143 different pesticides and

21 transformed products have been found in
ground water, including pesticides from every
major class.

During one survey in India, 58 percent of drinking

water samples drawn from various hand pumps
and wells around Bhopal were contaminated with
Organochlorine pesticides.

Once the ground water is polluted with toxic

chemicals, it may take years for the
contamination to be cleaned up.

Soil Contamination

A large number of transformed products from a

wide range of pesticides have been documented
from soil.

Pesticides that exhibit such behavior are DDT,

Endosulfan, Endrin, Heptachor, Lindane etc.

Most of them are banned now in agriculture but

their residues are still present.

Effects on Soil fertility

Heavy treatment of soil with pesticides can cause

population of beneficial microorganisms to
decline.

It causes decrease in nutrients as nutrient holding

beneficial microorganisms are reduced.

Reduces nitrogen fixation by bacteria.

Mycorrhizal fungi, which aid in nutrient uptake in

plants may be damaged by herbicide in the soil.

Contamination of air, soil and non-target

vegetation

Pesticide sprays can directly hit non-target

vegetation or can drift or volatilize from the
treated area and contaminate air, soil and nontarget plants.

Non-target organisms including predators and

parasites of pests.

The last but the worst is:

SUICIDE CASE

Self poisoning with pesticides accounts for about

one-third of all suicides worldwide.

On an average, one person dies by suicide every

40 seconds somewhere in the world(
www.suicide.org, recent data).

Thank
You