Integrated Pest Management There is no best way to deal with pests in agriculture.

Pesticides are commonly used, but this may caused many problems. Thats why I feel that combining different management operations is the most effective way to control pests. The chemicals in the pesticides may build as residues in the environment. This reduces the quality of farm produces. As well, pests can gradually become resistant to pesticides. This means the newer and sometimes stronger ones have to be developed. Some pesticides affect non target animals such as fish and bees. This affects the natural balance. Also aiming to completely wipe out agriculture pests may be very expensive. Sometimes pests damage costs less than the method of control. Understanding the ecology of the area helps a lot pest control. Natural enemies can be used to control a pest. Pesticides would be chosen that dont affect the natural enemies. Therefore, I think integrated pest management is a safe and more effective option in agriculture.

Pesticides, Sustainable Development and Organic Farming

CONTEXT :

Sustainable development in agriculture entails the sparing and selective use of inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and fertiliser products that are liable to harm consumers'health or to damage the environment. In this situation, it is necessary to have the right tools to measure effects and monitor changes over time: this is the role of sustainable development indicators (Pussemier & Steurbaut, 2004).

In organic farming, the use of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers is not permissible, which effectively limits the potential scale of such chemical inputs in terms of unwanted side-effects. However, this kinds of extensive systems are not shielded from contamination by other undesirable substances such as mycotoxins and environmental contaminants (Pussemier et al, 2006; Pussemier & Larondelle, 2007).

ROLE OF CODA-CERVA :

CODA-CERVA is involved in this issue in the framework of various activities and research projects:

1) Producing sustainable-development indicators 2) Comparing the levels of mycotoxins in conventional and organic products 3) Exposure of consumers to pesticide residues

PRODUCING SUSTAINABLE-DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS :

By virtue of its expertise in developing and using mathematical models to predict water pollution caused by pesticides, CODA-CERVA played a part in setting indicators as part of various projects at both European and Federal levels (Pesticide and Biocide Reduction Programme) (Pussemier & Steurbaut, 2004).

The objective is to be in a position to provide authorities with the best possible tools to enable them to measure progress achieved in our country in relation to the use of pesticide and herbicide products that are more environmentally-friendly and better for consumers' health, too (Mondelaers at al, 2007; De Voghel & Pussemier, 2007).

COMPARING THE LEVELS OF MYCOTOXINS IN CONVENTIONAL AND ORGANIC PRODUCTS :

CODA-CERVA forms part of a network that has conducted in-depth research into the presence of various mycotoxins in cereals and cereal products made in Belgium using conventional and organic methods (Larondelle et al, 2005; Anselme et al, 2006; Pussemier et al, 2006).

The research was subsequently continued in collaboration with FASFC (Federal Agency for the Security of the Food Chain) in order firstly to quantify more accurately the risks in specific beer consumption (Harcz et al, 2007a) and, secondly, to get an idea of the relative presence of various types of contaminants (pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals) in cereals produced in Belgium using conventional and organic methods (Harcz et al, 2007b). EXPOSURE OF CONSUMERS TO PESTICIDE RESIDUES : In collaboration with FASFC, CODA-CERVA has conducted a quantitative analysis of the intake of pesticide residues present in vegetable products in Belgium. An initial study dealt with year 2005; the data were processed adopting not only a deterministic approach (de Voghel & Pussemier, 2006) but also a probabilistic approach, allowing a closer estimate of the distribution of exposure among the population (Claeys et al, 2008). FASFC (Scientific Committee) is currently looking at the possibility of continuing this work using the latest data and deriving from it an indicator of the level of exposure of Belgian consumers to pesticide residues.

The Disadvantages of Using Pesticides and Herbicides By Nicole Crawford, eHow Contributor

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Pesticides and herbicides have a major impact on crop production. The 20th century brought many breakthrough developments in pesticide production. Pesticides control troublesome pests, such as

mites, insects, rodents and bacteria. Herbicides are actually a type of pesticide that protects herbs from weeds and other harmful or invasive plant species. Despite their beneficial effects, pesticide use has come under critical evaluation in the last 50 years. In 1960, the World Health Organization initiated the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) to increase awareness of the dangers of pesticides and to encourage their proper use. Does this Spark an idea? Other People Are Reading Pesticide Disadvantages The Advantages of Using Herbicides

Health Effects The World Health Organization estimates that 1 to 5 million cases of pesticide poisoning occur every year. Pesticide exposure affects the immune system, and scientists speculate that impaired immune system function, commonly seen in underdeveloped countries, could be linked to pesticide use. Additionally, 10 percent of pesticides are linked to cancer; for example, Dr. Aaron Blair of the National Cancer Institute has discovered links between the herbicide 2, 4-D to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Environmental Effects Pesticides also affect the environment. They can damage ecosystems which may result in the extermination of species that are not necessarily intended to be their targets. Pets and native beneficial species may also be harmed by the strong chemicals in many pesticides. As reported at the International Symposium on Urban Tree Health, held in Paris in 1999, certain herbicides can leach into the soil and cause damage when used in high doses. This effect is known as pesticide residue and is a primary reason for closer scrutiny of pesticides in recent years.

Resistance Widespread herbicide use has resulted in some species forming resistance to their chemical makeup. In areas that have used the same herbicides for many years, the targeted plant species have developed immunity to the herbicides, which has made weed control much more difficult. Herbicide use should always be a last resort in order to avoid the development of "resistant biotypes."

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The Disadvantages of Using Pesticides and Herbicides Comments (0) | Recommend (1) | Text size: A A | Report Abuse | Print Share: | Email | Related Ads Organic Pesticides Chemical Pesticides Herbicides and Pesticides Insect Pesticides Pesticides in Vegetables Pest Control Pesticides Herbicides Pesticides and herbicides are often useful to gardens or homeowners with some sort of pest problem. Before using them, however, you must be aware of the disadvantages, taking into account the surrounding environment. Knowledge of the effects of pesticides on certain aspects of life will help you make the decision if, where, and when to use the chemicals. Green alternatives to pesticides and herbicides include planting resistant species, crop rotation, and introducing beneficial insects to eat the pests.

Harm to Environment Pesticides and herbicides do not stay in one place. Their particles fly through the air when they are applied, eventually sinking into the soil. The chemicals are then carried away with runoff water, often into rivers and oceans, where they can kill aquatic plants. According to Louis Helfrich et al. at Virginia Tech, these plants provide 80 percent of the oxygen content for aquatic life. In the United States, for example, pesticides and herbicides flow into the Mississippi River ever year. They then travel to the Gulf Coast, where the residual chemicals kill off yards of the wetlands that protect the coastal region from hurricane swells.

Scentroid Flux Chamber www.scentroid.com New 100% stainless Steel design Flux Chamber for zero contamination Ads by Google Harm to Wildlife Pesticides and herbicides drift into aquatic sources, causing problems there, but they also cause problems on land. If species in both land and water are exposed to these chemicals, the result can be low weight, lowered resistance to disease, sterility, loss of attention, and even death. In addition to the harm done by exposure, consider the damage done to the ecosystem. Herbicide use on a certain area can kill an animal's habitat, and pesticide use, its food.

Harm to Humans Humans are not immune to the effects that wildlife experience. Some chemicals in pesticides and herbicides cause cancer. They may also irritate the skin or lungs.

Inability to Control Application The chemicals in herbicides, the ones that work best, are usually non-selective. This means that they kill many plants that they touch. Therefore, when applying herbicides, you must be careful not to drip it on any plants you wish to keep. The same is true with pesticides: Sometimes pesticides kill other insects that may be beneficial to your garden.

Expense Many effective pesticides are banned for homeowner use by state governments. Therefore, to achieve eradication, you must hire a professional to apply the chemical. This can be prohibitively expensive, as you have to pay not only for the (more expensive) chemical, but also to hire the person to apply it

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Risks of Pesticide Use Within the last few decades, scientists have learned that some pesticides can leach through the soil and enter the groundwater below. While 50% of the nation depends upon groundwater for drinking water, almost 95% of the households in rural areas use groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. The impact of agricultural chemicals on surface and groundwater quality has become an issue of national importance.

EPA has responsibility under a variety of statutes to protect the quality of the nation's ground water as well as direct responsibility for regulating the availability and use of pesticide products.

Each pesticide product has inherent risks associated with it. Potentially detrimental impacts of pesticides include:

Acute poisoning from a single or short-term exposure can result in death. Chronic impacts of long-term exposure to pesticides, including pesticide residues in food, could also result in death. Natural resources can be degraded when pesticide residues in storm water runoff enter streams or leach into groundwater. Pesticides that drift from the site of application can harm or kill nontarget plants, birds, fish, or other wildlife. The mishandling of pesticides in storage facilities and in mixing and loading areas can contribute to soil and water contamination. The risk associated with a given pesticide or pesticide product depends on the toxicity of the compound and the probability of exposure.

Dangers of Pesticides Learning Center Effects of Pesticides Dangers of Pesticides Email

Print Pesticides are used to kill the crop invaders. These pesticides are sprayed on the crops where they remain. These crops are sold to the public and used in the production of animal feed and other byproducts.

The crops are the same ones we buy at market to eat. The bugs are gone but the chemicals are not. We are ingesting these chemicals which were used to kill living organisms. These chemicals reach the colon and remain there, making the colon toxic and slowly poisoning the body.

The World Health Organization created the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). Its purpose was to create international guidelines for food safety. In the face of these guidelines, despite their stated focus of protecting the consumers, the Codex Commission approved seven of the most toxic chemical compounds known to man for use as pesticides. Further, they seem to be unconcerned about the pervasive use of these chemicals in animal feed and byproducts.

The seven dangerous chemicals approved by the Codex Commission are often referred to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP). "Persistent" because they aren't expelled easily, or at all without help. Following a trail, it's sprayed on crops as pesticides. These crops are used in the preparation of feed and produce which is marketed to humans. Animals are eating the byproducts and humans are eating the produce and both are retaining the chemical in their bodies. Then the humans eat the animals and get dosed again with the chemical. Humans have all these toxins in their bodies and are slowly being poisoned. And it's not just land creatures.

Organochlorine, one commonly used POP, runs off from the land into bodies of water, and may be responsible for contaminating the world's seafood supply. Organochlorine collects in the fatty tissue and so fish we heretofore ate for their essential fatty acids are becoming unsafe to eat in regular quantities.

Washing and pealing don't clear it away completely. Washing doesn't get everything off. Still you need to wash all fresh fruit and vegetables to clean them as much as possible. Pealing doesn't get everything off because it can grow through the vegetables. The other problem with pealing is that many of the nutrients that we want from the fruit are stored in the skin, so pealing reduces the benefit to your body.

How to Eliminate Toxins from Pesticides

Avoid crops items containing the highest levels of pesticide residues, like strawberries, peaches, celery. Use only the organically grown ones. Grow your own food organically to protect your family from commercial pesticides. Avoid chemical based pesticides. Visit OrganicPesticides.com for natural alternatives. Cleanse your intestinal tract 2 to 3 times weekly to prevent the accumulation of toxins in the colon which can seep into the bloodstream. Know what you can and cannot eat safely: www.ewg.org is a resource for learning which foods contain pesticides. Recommended Reading The Heath Effects of Pesticides 10 Homemade Organic Pesticides Study: Pesticide Exposure May Be Linked to ADHD in Children Parkinsons Disease: Could Pesticides Be a Cause?

he Dangers of Pesticides One of my favorite foods in the world has to be a freshly picked apple. Whether I am eating a juicy, red Gala apple, or a green, tart Granny Smith apple, my taste buds explode with the goodness of each bite. Not only are apples delicious, but they are packed with the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs to stay healthy. As I always say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," and I believe that is why I have not gotten sick since the 5th grade. Yet, lately I have been pondering over this question: Many fruits, such as apples, are sprayed with pesticides, and if pesticides can kill insects, what are the potential dangers they have on our body and the environment? This prompted me to dedicate a post about the dangers of pesticides, and my research surprised me.

As all of you know, most fruits and vegetables are grown of farms, and on farms, you can expect to find a lot of bugs, some of which have a strong liking for the crops. Farmers can not afford to lose their crops due to pesky little insects, so instead, some farmers spray chemicals, pesticides, on them which repel the insects. Pesticides can also prevent disease from spreading, so using pesticides lowers the risks of losing one's crop of the season.

Now, some of you may be wondering,"Do organic foods have pesticides?" The answer is yes, but these pesticides come from natural sources, such as certain types of plants, and they do not use

synthetic pesticides. Organic farmers also tend to spray less pesticides on their produce than other farmers, and the pesticides are less dangerous for the environment. Also, if a product is certified organic, it has to abide by the national standards.

Not only are pesticides found in farms, but they are found in or around your home, too. Do you use insect repellent in the summer to avoid getting bitten by blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes? Well, insect repellent has the pesticide DEET in it. If you have a wooden deck on your house, then that probably contains that pesticide Chromated Copper Arsenate, (CCA), which helps in the aid to preserve the wood so it does not rot. Some other common items that contain pesticides are: bleach, certain types of paint, and even a few swimming pool chemicals. If you have a lawn, you might have weed killers, or herbicides, to prevent the growth of weeds. Some pesticides are also used on other animals besides insects, such as unwelcome rodents. (Rodenticides)

Pesticides and the Environment

Even though pesticides are sprayed on land, many times, they can make their way into a water source, such as a river, ocean, or pond. For instance: Pesticides from an orchid may end up in a nearby stream due to runoff. If a body of water becomes contaminated with the chemicals, many fish and other animals may die and get sick. This can throw the whole ecosystem off balance.

Pesticides can also affect groundwater by a process known as leeching. Many people depend on groundwater for their drinking supply, yet, if that water has pesticides in it, it is unsanitary and harmful for the people to drink.

Another way pesticides can spread and cause potential harm is by volatilization. Volatilization occurs when a pesticide turns into a gas or vapor after it has been sprayed, allowing it to travel through the air and spread to different pieces of land. (Vapor Drift) This can be harmful for wildlife, such as frogs. Some scientists even believe that the pesticide, atrazine, causes reproductive problems in the frogs that affect the frog's biological goal, which is to survive to reproduce.

So why are pesticides so harmful to people's health? Not only are pesticides dangerous to the environment, but they are also hazardous to a person's health. Pesticides are stored in your colon, where they slowly but surely poison the body. You may not realize this, but when you are eating a non-organic apple, you are also eating over 30 different pesticides that have been sprayed on the apple. Even if you wash a piece of fruit, such as an apple,

there are still many pesticides lingering on it and they could have seeped into the fruit or vegetable. Strawberries, apples, carrots, celery, spinach, grapes, apples, cucumbers are just a few types of food that you should not eat if they are not organic because the pesticide level is the highest on them.

After countless studies, pesticides have been linked to cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, ADHD, and even birth defects. Pesticides also have the potential to harm the nervous system, the reproductive system, and the endocrine system. Pesticides can even be very harmful to fetuses because the chemicals can pass from the mother during pregnancy or if a woman nurses her child. Although one piece of fruit with pesticides won't kill you, if they build up in your body, they can be potentially detrimental to your health and should be avoided as much as possible.

Now that you are informed about pesticides, it is up to you to make the healthy choices that will lead you, your friends, and your family to a healthier lifestyle. In order to avoid as many pesticides as possible, I grow my own fruits and vegetables in my backyard. By doing this, I know that my food is not being sprayed with chemicals, and it tastes a lot fresher.

For pesticide safety tips, visit the United States Environmental Protection Agency's website and if you have any questions pertaining to pesticides, feel free to ask them in the comment box.