Pesticides have numerous
beneficial effects. These include crop protection, preservation of food and
materials and prevention of vector-borne diseases.
For example pesticides may be
used in the prevention of malaria, which kills up to 1 million children per
year, and for preventing other vector-borne diseases such as dengue,
leishmaniasis and Japanese encephalitis.
Pesticides are toxic by
design – they are BIOCIDES, designed to kill, reduce or repel insects, weeds,
rodents, fungi or other organisms that can threaten public health and the
economy.
Their mode of action is by
targeting systems or enzymes in the pests which may be identical or very
similar to systems or enzymes in human beings and therefore, they pose risks to
human health and the environment.
Pesticides are ubiquitous in
the environment and most are synthetic.
There is growing concern
about children's exposure to pesticides and their special susceptibility.
Children are not little adults, and may have higher exposures and greater
vulnerability at both high and low levels of exposure.
a) First use of synthetic
pesticides: 1940
b) Consumption increased
substantially over time, for example, in the USA, the use of pesticides doubled
from 1960 to 1980, but total use has since remained stable or fallen. Most
pesticides are used in agriculture, but in 1999 about 74% of households in USA were
reported to use at least one pesticide in the home.
c) Use has risen in developing countries and the fastest growing markets in Africa, Asia, South and Central America, Eastern Mediterranean. There is a high pesticide use on crops grown for export (Dr. N. Besbelli, WHO, personal communication).
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