Pesticides refer to substances that are utilized to destroy bugs, insects, and organisms that adversely affect cultivated plants(crops). Pesticides are in many forms, for example, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, and nematicides. (Tudi et al., 2021) Pesticides are essential in agricultural production to reduce the percentage of crops destroyed by fungi and other organisms, thus increasing overall crop yield. Higher crop yield means higher profit for the farmers, meaning farmers are generally encouraged to use pesticides.
Consequentially, higher and higher amounts of pesticides are produced, approximately three billion kilograms per year, while only 1% of total pesticides are effectively used on target plants. (Tudi et al., 2021) What this means is that the remaining amount goes on to pollute the environment and subsequently have negative effects on human health.
There are several ways through which pesticides can contaminate the environment and thus affect human health. They can contaminate water sources whereby this happens when they drift outside of the intended during spraying, leaching through the soil, through surface runoff, or when the pesticides are spilled accidentally. (Poudel et al., 2020) Once in water sources, the pesticides can easily be ingested by humans and cause both short-term and chronic effects, such as the production of benign or malignant tumors, among others.
Pesticides may also bring about air pollution wher,e they can be inhaled by humans and cause serious damage. This may come about when pesticide residues are disseminated and transported over long distances to residential areas where the population may inhale them. (Tudi et al., 2021) It has also been shown that carpets and textiles are long-term reservoirs for pesticides (Tran et al., 2020). Once inside, the pesticides can last for very long since they are not directly exposed to agents like sunlight and rain. They may be then ingested or inhaled by humans and consequentially cause various short-term risks, such as eye irritation and nausea, or long-term chronic risks, such as cancer. (Tudi et al., 2021)
Pesticides can get into the body through direct contact with the skin. (Poudel et al., 2020) This may happen, for example, when a farmer is handling pesticides, such as when mixing pesticides with water. This is why it is always very important to protect oneself while handling pesticides. Some precautions to prevent direct contact with pesticides include wearing an overall to protect farmers’ bodies, hand gloves to protect hands while handling the pesticides, and safety boots to protect the farmers’ legs. (Raimi et al., 2020) Failure to do this can result in skin burns and various other short-term and chronic effects.
Although rare, it is possible to get exposed to pesticides through the eyes. This is especially true for granular pesticides, which utilize carriers such as minerals, for example, sand and gypsum, and organic carriers such as corn cobs. The pesticides usually end up coming into contact with the eyes when power equipment is used to spray, and the pellets skip off the vegetation onto the person’s eyes at high velocities, causing significant damage to the eye tissues. (Kumar & Kumar 2019) This is why, however sp, raying should take precautions such as wearing chemical splash goggles (cup goggles or cover glasses), full face respirators, and face shields, which can be worn with or without goggles in cases where splashing will almost certainly occur. (Bultemeier 2020)
Now that we understand the various ways that exposure can occur, we can now go even further and discuss the various effects of pesticides when they enter the human body. These effects are determined by two main factors: how poisonous the constituents of the pesticides are and also on the dimension of exposure. (Kumar & Kumar 2019) The effects of pesticides range from not severe effects, such as mild skin irritation and nausea, all the way to life-threatening effects, such as cancer and even death. (Poudel et al., 2020)
Various studies have linked exposure to pesticides with malignant growths (cancer)in both children and adults, with individuals exposed to pesticides for longer being noted to be at higher risk of different malignancies such as leukemia and neuroblastoma. (Kumar & Kumar 2019) Other cancers also associated with pesticide exposure include prostate cancer, believed to be related to Chlorpyrifos(CPF) exposure, breast cancer related to organophosphate pesticides, and colorectal cancer related to Chlorpyrifos and Aldicarb.
Exposure to pesticides has also been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, which is a widely recognized reason for dementia in adults, specifically seniors. Alzheimer’s disease(AD) usually involves the existence of extracellular amyloid-beta plaques, neuronal death, and loss of neurotransmitters. (Kumar & Kumar 2019) Organophosphate pesticides have been observed to interfere with the body’s nervous system and, therefore, cause AD as well as interfere with medications used to treat the disease.
Various respiratory disorders have also been linked with long periods of subjection to pesticides. This occurs when the pesticides are inhaled and pass through the respiratory system before getting into the circulatory diseases. The result is a number of Acute Respiratory Infections, such as mild ones like cough and sinusitis, and even serious infections like chronic bronchitis. (Tran et al., 2020) Inhalation of pesticides may also lead to pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, as well as cardiovascular diseases such as cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure.
Other disorders as a result of subjection to pesticides include reproductive disorders-which, which may bring about negative consequences such as reduced fertility and malignant growths in both men and women and premature births, undiagnosed miscarriages, and congenital disabilities in women, as well as liver and kidney disorders whereby the pesticides were noted to cause chronic kidney disease (CKD) and oxidation and eventual corruption of the lipid layer in the liver. (Kumar & Kumar 2019) Dermal disorders such as chloracne and contact dermatitis have also been shown to be a result of organochlorine pesticides.
As clearly shown above, despite the positive effects of pesticide use on farmers and agronomists worldwide, as well as the world as a whole, as a result of improved food production, the negative effects of pesticides on the environment, especially on human health, cannot be overstated. It is, therefore, imperative for governments, NGOs, and even the specific companies producing pesticides to take the initiative in an effort to mitigate (if not eradicate) the adverse effects of pesticides worldwide.
References
Tudi, M., Daniel Ruan, H., Wang, L., Lyu, J., Sadler, R., Connell, D., … & Phung, D. T. (2021). Agriculture development, pesticide application, and its impact on the environment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(3), 1112.
Poudel, S., Poudel, B., Acharya, B., & Poudel, P. (2020). Pesticide use and its impacts on human health and environment. Environ Ecosyst Sci, 4(1), 47-51.
Muhammad, I. H., Raimi, M. O., Sawyerr, O. H., Emmanuel, O. O., BASHIR, B. G., & Suleiman, H. (2020). Qualitative adverse health experience associated with pesticide usage among farmers from Kura, Kano State, Nigeria. Isah Hussain Muhammad, Raimi Morufu Olalekan, Sawyerr Henry Olawale, Odipe Oluwaseun Emmanuel, Bashir Bala Getso, Suleiman Haladu (2020) Qualitative Adverse Health Experience Associated with Pesticides Usage among Farmers from Kura, Kano State, Nigeria. Merit Research Journal of Medicine and Medical.
Kumar, V., & Kumar, P. (2019). Pesticides in agriculture and environment: Impacts on human health. Contaminants in agriculture and environment: health risks and remediation, 1, 76-95.
Bultemeier, B. (2020). Protective Eyewear for Pesticide Applicators: PI287, 10/2020. EDIS, 2020(5).
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