Pesticides are widely used around the world to help plant growth. Although they are effective drugs, they contain toxic chemicals that can damage our cognitive and nervous systems.
15 years ago, Tim Parton, manager or farm master of Brewood Park farm in Staffordshire in England, decided to take action and started experimenting with organic farming.
Instead of using pesticides and fertilizers, he puts natural inputs that reproduce themselves, such as trichoderma, and fungi on his plants, to help them grow and fix nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil.
Parton is part of a growing community of transplant farmers. This farming is a new agricultural method that prioritizes soil and environmental health by reducing synthetic or chemical inputs.
He started using this method after he developed headaches and skin rashes from using chemical pesticides.
Since starting to use the organic farming method, Parton has not experienced any health effects. He has not had to use any phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on his crops for more than 10 years. "I try to keep the plant as balanced as possible, and if the plant has received the right nutrition, it does not get sick," he says.
The extent of pesticide use in the world
Pesticides or pesticides are substances or chemicals used to repel, destroy and control insects, weeds or other organisms that affect plant growth.
Although effective, pesticides contain toxic chemicals that can have severe, and sometimes toxic, effects on human sensory organs and the nervous system.
First used in the 1930s to protect crops in the United States, many agricultural communities have recently become dependent on the use of pesticides or herbicides because they help to increase yields. Today, almost a third of the world's agricultural products depend on these pesticides.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 1,000 types of pesticides used worldwide, with some of the most common types being herbicides (49%), fungicides and bacteria (27%) and insecticides. (19%).
In 1990, global pesticide use was 1.69 billion kg; this number grew by more than 57% in the last two decades, reaching 2.66 billion kilos in 2020.
A report by the United Nations Environment Program predicts continued growth in pesticide use. Since the world's population is expected to reach 9.3 billion people by 2050, a 60 percent increase in the level of food production is required. To develop and meet these needs, researchers believe farmers will need to use more pesticides or herbicides to combat weeds and plant diseases.
According to a study of European agricultural systems, completely abandoning pesticides can lead to a 78% loss of fruit production, a 54% decrease in vegetable yields and a 32% loss of cereal crops.
But our reliance on pesticides also comes at a high environmental cost, with research showing pesticides may be responsible for loss of scent in honey bees, polluting water sources, and threatening aquatic ecosystems.
Health effects
Pesticides or insecticides are harmful if you eat them through food or crops that are produced or grown and protected by these pesticides. Its effects are through a process known as bioaccumulation. This happens when toxins build up in the body due to our bodies not being able to break them down. So many pesticides can accumulate in fat in the body.
This can have a negative impact on human health. Despite international regulations on pesticide use, one study estimates that as many as 385 million cases of accidental pesticide poisoning occur among farm workers each year.
When sprayed, pesticides produce vapors that can turn into air pollutants. In the United States, 37-54% of pesticide-related illnesses among agricultural workers are attributed to inhalation of pesticides.
Early symptoms of pesticide exposure can include headaches, nausea, dizziness and respiratory problems, says Michelle Perro, a former pediatrician who founded the nonprofit GMO Science, a public forum where doctors discuss and analyze the effects of genetically modified crops and foods.
Health effects can range from seizures to breathing problems. Conditions and long-term use of the type of drug used also cause effects on our sensory and nervous systems. "By inhaling pesticides through the lungs it can be more toxic, because our gut has microbes that help detoxify," says Perro.
A 2020 study found that of the estimated 860 million agricultural workers in the world, 44% are affected by the toxicity of these pesticides each year. This is due to the lack of protective equipment or the use of defective equipment, which causes effects through the skin, inhalation or ingestion.
"When pesticides enter the body through inhalation, they [pass through] our blood-brain barrier and impair nerve function," says Chen. "Alternatively, [pesticides] can enter our bloodstream through the gastrointestinal tract if they are ingested or eaten."
Many studies also show a link between the use of these drugs and diseases of the nervous system. Pesticides have been linked to conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's is a brain disease where a person lacks the hormone dopamine. This happens after the cells that make dopamine are damaged. A person with this disease has hand tremors, along with difficulty walking. A person may also have thinking problems.
Insecticides during pregnancy or in children are also associated with asthma among children.
Because they are designed to target the organism's nervous tissue, pesticides such as organophosphates, carbamates and organochlorine pesticides are more toxic than herbicides.
In 2014, children of the same school were poisoned by these poisons in Bordeaux, France. At the primary school near the vineyard, 23 students experienced nausea, headaches and skin irritation after fungicides were sprayed in the vineyard.
That led to a fine of $31,842 for the two vineyards involved, after a private lawsuit was filed by two French environmental associations Sepanso and Génération Futures.
Cases of children falling ill from exposure to pesticides can be found all over the world, from Hawaii to New Zealand. In India, drug poisoning among children has been an important public health issue for decades now.
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