Effects Of Pesticides
The Effects of Using Pesticides on Your Garden
Pesticides are used to exterminate pests from crops all over the world. They not only exterminate the pests but prevent them from returning, which you would think is a great thing and an easy way for farmers to keep there crops fresh and unaffected. Wrong. Some pesticides can be dangerous and damage your health.
All pesticides are potentially dangerous to our bodies in one way or another, some more than others. DDT (dichloro – diphenyl – trichloro – ethane) is well known to be harmful to our health. It has been completely banned in America now as it has been linked to cancer. DDT was used a lot in the 1960’s and in 1963 61 million pounds of it was sprayed over the U.S. This later concluded to a ban all over the U.S.
The spreading of DTT works in a circle, if a farmer sprays it on his crops the chances are a rodent will feed of the crops. A bird is then likely to eat the rodent and then we are likely to eat the bird, DDT is then inside us. When you then go on to have children it will get passed down through your family, increasing the chances of cancer running through your family.
Another downfall to all pesticides is even though they work and keep the pests away, it is also making the pests become more and more immune to the poisons. This means farmers have to use more and more pesticides every year, which is increasing the risk of harming the consumers of the fruit and vegetables grown. 95 % of crops that farmers have sprayed with pesticide, the pesticides are also damaging more than it should. It is damaging soil, friendly species, water and air.
But there are safer ways to keep pests away from your crops. A good example is using garlic! This is easy to make, all you need to do is chop up some garlic, add clean water and also add dirty water from the laundry or the dishes. After straining this mixture, sprinkle over your crops. The smell of the garlic will keep away all pests. This gives you a completely chemical free pesticide that is good for the environment and won’t affect your bank balance!
At the moment there is no sign of pesticides being banned in the UK yet as apologists are arguing the positive effects of pesticides such as insuring food safety. The positive side is that they are also trying to invent a new pesticide, that is highly poisonous to pests but have almost no affect whatsoever on the human race.
