EU assembly votes to ban toxic pesticides

Reference:

Smith, J. (2009, January 13). EU assembly votes to ban toxic pesticides. Reuters.com,

Retrieved October 1, 2009 from http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE50C5GH20090113

Summary:

Smith’s (2009) article " EU assembly votes to ban toxic pesticides " states the report that European Parliament members voted last week to prohibit some of the most toxic and dangerous pesticides to improve human health. The European Union put a list of active ingredients of pesticides that will ban from circulating in the market because of gravity on human health, and that list will provide the basis for national EU governments to license each pesticide. The report said that will prevent spraying of pesticides from air and will prevent using pesticides near water sources. Europe's pesticide industry has fear, and says the new law will remove products from the market that have been used safely for years. Scientists said that using certain numbers of pesticides to control pests would cause problems of pest that are resistant pest to pesticides after a short time. The report shows that the new law will affect the production of vegetables and cereals.

Reaction:

I agree with the information in this article. There are many kinds of pesticides over all the world. Many countries produce pesticides but do not use them on their land. Each country has organized rules about using pesticides. Governments should provide many kinds of pesticide to markets to prevent pest that are resistant pests to pesticides. For example, Aphid is an insect that has a generation each week, which means aphids can establish very fast resistant generations. In addition, housefly has short life cycle, which means it can establish a new generation each week. Agricultural and health organizations must monitor crops, pests, and pesticides for the safety of humans, crops, and markets. My country prohibits dangerous pesticides, which have a toxicity level I (according to WHO). Libya has been using a low amount of toxic pesticides since 1990. We have a specialist committee that makes pesticide rules. Our home is located in North Africa, which means that pests have the ability to grow in population in a short time because of high temperature. Libya should provide a local market to many pesticides for prevent resistant pests from become resistant to pesticides.

Fruit and veg have 'unacceptable' levels of pesticides

Reference:

Wallop, H. (2009, September 24). Fruit and veg have 'unacceptable' levels of
pesticides. Telegraph.co.uk, Retrieved September 26, 2009 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/6227745/Fruit-and-veg-have-unacceptable-levels-of-pesticides.html

Summary:

Wallop's (2009) article "Fruit and veg have 'unacceptable' levels of pesticides" states the report that fruit and vegetables sold in the supermarkets contain pesticides residues, which are over the highest allowed level. Many fruits and vegetables supplied to schools containing residues of pesticides are the highest levels of European law. According to annual report 2008, the levels of pesticides varied considerably, with imported fruit and vegetables tending to have higher levels. The Food Standards Agency insisted that the unlawful levels did not necessarily mean that the food was unsafe to eat. At high doses, pesticides can cause sensitivity to reactions such as causing irritated skin and breathing difficulties. Dr. Ian Brown advises people to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, and he said scientific evidence shows that the health benefits are far greater than the risk from pesticide residues.

Reaction:

I agree with the information in this article. Residual pesticides have affected the ecosystem. In addition, they did many risks and diseases. Many organizations such as EPA made rules to protect our environment. Each pesticide has a safe concentration level to protect humans and animals, but it is still dangerous and affects our environment. Recent research shows evidence of a link between high levels of pesticides and some diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Some countries have the quality control to protect consumers. In my country, there are laws that determine residues of pesticides according to the Agriculture and Food organization, but these laws did not apply in real.

Pesticides May Raise Alzheimer's Risk

Reference:

Laino, C. (2009, July 15). Pesticides may raise Alzheimer's risk. Webmd.com,
Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20090715/pesticides-may-raise-alzheimers-risk

Summary:

Laino's (2009) article "Pesticides May Raise Alzheimer's Risk" states the new study on the risk of pesticides shows the possibility of Alzheimer's disease. The study showed that exposure to pesticides for a long time increases the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease. Scientists say there is an evidence to support the results. Dr. Kathleen Said did not discover the cause of Alzheimer's disease, which may be caused by genetic and environmental factors. According to the Alzheimer's Association, there is an increase of half a million patients each year by 2010 and a million patients each year by 2050. A study has been done to measure cognitive function on the 75 elderly people for seven years. Researchers found 53% of people who worked with pesticides had developed Alzheimer's disease.

Reaction:

I agree with article’s information. Many pesticides are used over all the world, which are dangerous. The World Health Organization has a scale to measure the toxicity of pesticides, which is (I high toxic – II moderately toxic – III low toxic). There is not enough information about the risk of pesticides. To know the risk of pesticides, scientists should do tests for many years. Most pesticides affect the nervous system. People who work with pesticides a receive small quantity of pesticides every day. This small quantity of pesticides accumulates in the human body, and causes diseases after years. For example, colon cancer is caused by contaminated food. As the first suspect, pesticides cause contaminated food. In my country, there is Alzheimer's disease, but we do not know what causes it.

RRJ A History of Pesticides

Reference:

Tyler, L. (2009, April 29). A History of Pesticides. BRIGHTHUB.COM,
Retrieved September 5, 2009, from http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/33448.aspx

Summary:

Tyler's (2009) article "A History of Pesticides" states the development of pesticides over time. Since people learn about pests, they have used pesticides to control pests. In the beginning of old eras, humans used natural materials to kill pests. After World War I and II, pesticides became necessary to kill pests, which attack humans, crops, and their properties. Many pesticides such as DDT caused environmental side effects. In 1960, Rachel Carson wrote her book (Silent Spring); this book talked about pesticides, risk on our environment. Many pesticides are residual for long time in the environment such as DDT. From the last decades of the 20th century until now, scientists have created a system named integrated pest management. This system used all environmental factors to control pest ecosystems.

Reaction:

The author mentioned the brief history of pesticides. I think there is a lot of basic information the author does not mention. For example, pesticides are divided into two groups, organic pesticides and inorganic pesticides. In old eras, humans used inorganic pesticides (pyrethrum, cyanide, sulfur, lead, and garlic) to kill pests. First pesticides, human created botanical insecticides such as nicotine, pyrethrum, and rotenone. Old Chinese used red onion and garlic to repel rats. The author does not mention why humans developed pesticides over time. During some eras, there were famines and diseases that attacked people. Therefore, scientists created and developed pesticides. In the last decades of the 20th century, scientists found a new system named integrated pest management (IPM) to protect our environment. Developing countries used IPM on la arge scale, but the third world still used old pesticides. Our country started to use IPM on a small scale.

RRJ

Reference:

University of Pittsburgh, (2009, August 17). Pitt research suggests EPA pesticide

exposure test too short, overlooks long term effects. eScience News, Retrieved August 30, 2009, from http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/08/17/pitt.research.suggests.epa.pesticide.exposure.test.too.short.overlooks.long.term.effects.

Summary:

This article "Pitt research suggests EPA pesticide exposure test too short, overlooks long term effects" shows the EPA did a short test on pesticides to discover pesticides’ side effects on human and animals. In addition, Pitt research shows the effect of toxic pesticide endosulfan on several kinds of frogs. The results show 50% from primary frog stages were dead after a short time from treatments. Scientists said the tests were too short and are not enough to show the real side effect result. According to endosulfan results for 10 years within safety levels for human and animals, there are reductions in amphibian populations and humans may be affected.

Reaction:

I agree with the information in this article. Because pesticides have affected the ecosystem,they made an imbalance between pests and their natural enemies. To provide food, many countries used pesticide to protect their crops; they increased imbalance in our world. For this reason, many organizations such as EPA made rules to protect our environment . Each pesticide has a safe concentration level to protect human and animals, but it still makes danger and affects our environment. The short tests on pesticides, I think, are not enough to show us pesticides’ side effect on all organisms. There are many organisms in our environment; they coexist with us in our chain food. If they were killed or died out, there will be an imbalance between pests and their natural enemies and natural enemies will become pests. When natural enemies become pests, we need to create new pesticides to kill new pest and these chemicals will cause new problems in our environment. We should do more research on pesticides’ side effect to protect our environment. In my country, there are few pesticides problems because we used pesticides on a small scale.

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