Is there any evidence that pesticides are harmful to humans or to the environment?

Question

Please cite your source(s)

Answer 1

I agree with hemlockk.  As far as safety goes, moderation and responsibility is more important than what's out there.  We humans need salt to survive and without it, we die.  However, set down and eat a bowl of salt and you're also dead.  Same with oxygen.  Aspirin?  They're great if you have a headache but overdose on them and you'll die.  Heck, even drinking too much water will kill you.

So called harmless items or products can be deadly when used incorrectly and vice-versa.  Chemotherapy is a perfect example of a dangerous substance having positive effects when used correctly.

To answer your question, look up the insecticide DDT.  While a very effective product and responsible for eliminating or at the very least, controlling malaria in various parts of the world, it thinned the egg shells of bald eagles after they ate fish that had consumed tainted insects or lived in tainted water.  Thin shelled eggs broke and eagle populations in the US dropped.

Answer 2

There is a lot of evidence that pesticides are harmful to both the environment and humans, especially if not handled properly. Here are some sites that can get you started.

http://www.panap.net/uploads/media/PAN_P...

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/mosquito...

Answer 3

Anything is harmful if managed improperly.  Pesticides have a lot of potential to do harm if they are used over large areas, overused, or generally allowed to drastically reduce the population of some organism that is important to the ecosystem.  Herbicides and fungicides rarely have this effect, but it is possible to cause some damage to ecosystems if fish or birds lose their food source due to insecticides.

As far as harming humans, some pesticides would be problems IF OVERUSED.  Luckily, the USDA very closely manages what kinds of pesticides are used on food crops, how much pesticide is applied, and the time of year of application. (If a pesticide would still be present in the food for about a month after application, the USDA requires that you not apply that pesticide if you're going to be harvesting in a month.)  When I grew up on a farm I applied pesticides regularly, and by wearing gloves and not eating the pesticides I never had any health problems.  Pesticides used today are well-tested and trustworthy.

While some ecosystem damage can occur from pesticides, negative effect on people is pretty minimal because it's well tested and prevented by government and industry control.  Buying foods with pesticides is a personal choice- usually between "I don't want to reduce the amount of insects in the food cycle" vs. "I realize that by not using pesticides more land will have to be used to produce less food, raising food prices in the world and contributing to world hunger among humans." So it's your choice which is the least harm done.

Answer 4

i do not think that pesticides are only harmful to the enviorment and the things it is created to destroy and it is not harmfull to humans unless the container explods and or is sent on fire.