Impact Of Pesticide Use Research Articles

Neurological symptoms among Sri Lankan farmers occupationally exposed to acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting insecticides.

In many agricultural districts in Sri Lanka, pesticide poisoning is a leading cause of death. This study aims to evaluate the impact of pesticide use on Sri Lankan farmers' health. A total of 260 subjects were surveyed in both a low and a high exposure period. Acetylcholinesterase activity was measured and data on symptoms were collected with questionnaires. Twenty-four percent of surveyed farmers had suffered at least once from acute pesticide poisoning. Farmers showed significantly more inhibition of cholinesterase activity than controls. Acute symptoms indicative for exposure to cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides were associated with farming and a higher degree of cholinesterase suppression (more than 13% inhibition). Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training seemed to result in less insecticide use, and less cholinesterase inhibition. Our results suggest that occupational acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting insecticide exposures have a negative impact on Sri Lankan farmers' health. Overall reduction in pesticide use seems the best option to protect farmers from the adverse effects of pesticides.

Pesticide risk assessment in a lagoon ecosystem. Part II: Effect assessment and risk characterization

Ecotoxicological risk assessment for pesticides was performed on a coastal lagoon ecosystem (Orbetello lagoon, central Italy) according to the procedure described in the European technical guidance document (TGD) on risk assessment for new and existing substances. The procedure was applied to individual chemicals and to a mixture of chemicals with the same toxicological mode of action. Biomarker studies, measuring acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity inhibition, were conducted on Zosterisessor ophiocephalus to compare the results of theoretical risk assessment with experimental measurements of ecotoxicological stress. Value and limitations of the risk assessment procedure and its application to site-specific environmental conditions are discussed. A tool crop risk index (CRI) for assessing the overall impact of pesticide use on a crop is proposed.

A comparison of the environmental impact of pesticide use in integrated and conventional potato cultivation in The Netherlands

To reduce the environmental impact of agriculture in The Netherlands, a number of labels and certification schemes for integrated farming exist. This article compares the pesticide use associated with ware-potato cultivation by integrated and conventional methods, the former as certified under the Dutch Stichting Milieukeur scheme. Besides kg/ha usage, the potential environmental impact of usage was also compared. In terms of kg applied, on average integrated cultivation involved 25% of the quantities employed in conventional cultivation. This difference was not due to any major difference in the number of pesticides used or in the number of crop treatments; only in the case of herbicides were these figures significantly lower for integrated farming. The principal difference lies in the lower per hectare dosage of the chemicals employed, reducing overall pesticide usage to one-quarter of that employed in conventional cropping. The environmental impact of respective usage was determined using a composite indicator known as the ‘environmental yardstick’ and the results showed that the impact associated with integrated potato cultivation is only 2% that of conventional cropping. This difference in environmental impact was found for insecticides, fungicides and herbicides and was due to a variety of factors: choice of agent, volume employed and drift reduction. The composition of the crop chemical package played a key role in reducing environmental burden. Even if drift reduction is ignored, integrated cropping as per the Stichting Milieukeur certificate reduced the environmental burden to about 9% of that associated with conventional potato cultivation.

Partitioning and persistence of trichlorfon and chlorpyrifos in a creeping bentgrass putting green.

Golf course putting greens typically receive high pesticide applications to meet high quality demands. Research on pesticide fate in turf ecosystems is important to better understand the potential impact of pesticide use on the environment and human health. This research was conducted to evaluate the environmental fate of two commonly used insecticides--trichlorfon (dimethyl 2,2,2-trichloro-1-hydroxyethylphosphonate) and chlorpyrifos (O,O-diethyl O-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridylphosphorothioate)--in a creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) putting green under customary field management practices at the University of California-Riverside Turf Research Facility during 1996 and 1997. The two insecticides were chosen because of their difference in water solubility, persistence, adsorption, and vapor pressure. Volatilization, clipping removal, and soil residues of the insecticides were quantified and leaching was monitored using lysimeters installed in putting green plots. Results showed trichlorfon volatilization, clipping removal, and leaching loss was insignificant (in the range of 0.0001-0.06% of applied mass) both in 1996 and 1997. No significant difference in clipping removal of trichlorfon and chlorpyrifos was observed in both years (0.06 and 0.05% of applied mass for trichlorfon and 0.15 and 0.19% of applied mass for chlorpyrifos, respectively, in 1996 and 1997), but significantly lower cumulative leaching and lower soil concentration was observed in 1997 than in 1996. Volatilization loss of chlorpyrifos was not significantly different between 1996 (2.05%) and 1997 (2.71%). Volatilization loss of trichlorfon in 1996 (0.01%) was significantly higher than in 1997 (0.008%). This study demonstrated the fraction of applied insecticides leaving the turf putting greens was minimal.

Evaluating Health and Environmental Impacts of Pesticide Use: Implications for the Design of Ecolabels and Pesticide Taxes

This paper estimates the economic impacts of pesticide use on human health and on the environment to gather information on the structure of a possible pesticide tax and on the design of an “environmentally friendly” bread product. The relative importance of these different impacts is determined by what individuals are prepared to pay to avoid a case of human ill health and a unit of environmental damage, measured by bird species in decline. Willingness to pay is estimated using a contingent ranking approach, a variant of the standard contingent valuation method, which is capable of tackling the multidimensional effects associated with pesticide applications. The results suggest that consumers would be willing to pay substantial price markups for environmentally friendly bread loaves and, consequently, that a case could be made for a substantial pesticide tax, preferably differentiated byproduct type. It is also shown that individuals are on average only willing to tolerate between 7−8 cases of human illness to save an entire bird species.

Valuing the Multiple Impacts of Pesticide Use in the UK: A Contingent Ranking Approach

The contingent ranking method was used to estimate the value of the human health and biodiversity impacts associated with pesticide applications, using a “green” consumer product as a payment vehicle. Specification testing showed that the standard conditional logit model provides a representation of these data preferable to the rank‐ordered logit variant. The resulting estimates ‐ which perform well in terms of standard validity tests ‐ show that, on average, consumers are only willing to tolerate between six and eight cases of human illness to save an entire species of farmland birds.

The health impacts of pesticide use on sugarcane farmers in Fiji.

A survey conducted among sugarcane farmers in Fiji found significant differences in the incidence of chronic illness and disease between users of pesticides and a nonuser control group. Though average production of sugarcane was markedly higher among pesticide users, average annual medical expenditures were also significantly higher. Advanced technological methods including chemical pesticides require a system of institutional support to provide, inter alia, information for an effective transition from traditional to modern agricultural practices. Without that support the ad hoc application of technology may result in inefficiency and, in the case of pesticides, increased health risks among the farm population. Besides practical handling and application advice farmers require information describing the chronic health impacts of pesticide exposure to allow their weighing of the full costs of pesticide use against the production benefits.

The Impact of Pesticide Use on Groundwater in North Carolina

AbstractA North Carolina study revealed that certain pesticides have impacted groundwater above health‐based standards in vulnerable areas. Ninety‐seven shallow, surficial aquifer‐monitoring wells were sampled at least twice. Sites for the monitoring wells were chosen based on an evaluation with the Pesticide DRASTIC model and a known record of pesticide use. Where possible, areas of greater risk were intentionally selected. Twenty‐three pesticides or pesticide degradates were detected in 26 of the 97 wells. Nine of the pesticides or degradates are no longer registered for use; two of these chemicals, dibromochloropropane and methylene chloride, were found in excess of health‐based guidance levels (HBGL) or state groundwater quality standards (GWQS). Of the registered pesticides or their degradates, the herbicides dichlorprop and simazine and the insecticide isomers BHC‐alpha and BHC‐delta were in excess of HBGL. The herbicide atrazine was detected at 83% of its GWQS. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Pesticides and Groundwater State Management Plans will be required for atrazine and simazine to be sold and used, which will provide additional protection to public health and the environment. Pesticide DRASTIC ratings or soil‐leaching potential values and the proportion of wells were unrelated to pesticide detections.

Assessing the impact of pesticides on the environment

Pesticide use in agriculture can cause undesirable effects on humans and the natural environment. One of the objectives of integrated agriculture is the elimination or reduction of possible sources of environmental pollution such as pesticides. To achieve this objective, farmers need a method to assist them in estimating the environmental impact of pesticide use. This paper addresses a two-part question: what factors should be taken into consideration to assess pesticide environmental impact, and how can impact be quantified? As the environmental impact of a pesticide depends on its dispersion in the environment and on its toxicological properties, the literature on these topics is reviewed to address the first part of the question. To address the second part of the question, six recent approaches to assess the impact of pesticides on the environment are compared regarding choice, transformation and aggregation of input parameters. The use of simulation models to assess environmental impact is discussed.

Measuring Sustainable Cotton Production Using Total Factor Productivity

Continuous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production was examined using data from Alabama's long-term Old Rotation experiment (c. 1896). Index values were used to examine trends in productivity and sustainability for 95 yr. Treatments studied were those receiving (i) no N fertilizers and no winter legumes for 95 yr, (ii) only winter legumes as a source of N, and (iii) chemical fertilizer N. Three sets of index numbers were calculated from all inputs and outputs involved in the production systems: (i) total factor productivity (TFP), which accounts for an direct production inputs, but which does not consider production externalities; (ii) productivity relative to a base plot; and (iii) total social factor productivity (TSFP), which accounts for all direct production inputs as well as externalities of soil erosion and pesticide use. Viewed from the 95-yr perspective of the Old Rotation experiment, all three treatments fulfill at least one criterion required for a system to be considered sustainable. Output per unit of input is higher in 1991 than in 1896, even when externalities are valued. None of the systems showed a linear trend in output or TFP over the life of the experiment; productivity cycles are present in all three systems, despite a positive overall trend. An average annual rate of TSFP growth of 1.8%/yr was attained- Accounting for erosion and pesticide externalities reduced the annual productivity growth rate by 0.2%/yc The system that has neither an organic nor a chemical source of added N was less productive and less sustainable than the two other systems with a 0.3%/yr TSFP growth rate. The plots using organic and chemical sources of N had similar productivity impacts. Valuing soil erosion and pesticide externalities had only a modest effect on measured productivity. The most dramatic single event to affect the productivity of cotton farming was the introduction of the mechanical cotton picker. The impact of this technology was powerful enough to offset the effect of many other changes in the system.

Present Aspects and Environmental Impacts of Pesticide Use in Thailand

The extensive use of pesticide in Thailand has created some severe problems related to pesticide residues, pest resistance to pesticide and health hazards. In order to clarify the nature and behaviour of pesticide in the tropical environment of Thailand, the surveys of pesticide residues in soil, water, sediment, fish and shellfish to quantify the existence levels of pesticide residues were carried out during 1987-1989. The results revealed that several organochlorine pesticides some of which are no more in use now and also some organophosphorus were found remained at trace amounts in the environmental samples. The study on impact of pesticide residues on rice paddy environment had been carried out and there was no implication for short term effects from pesticide residues detected. The occupational health hazard of pesticide had also been identified and characterized by interview and field visits to formulating and repackaging plants. There was indication that hazards existed in pesticide formulating and repackaging plants in Thailand. Control measures and standard enforcement have been implemented in order to achieve hazard reduction.