Epa's Use Of Persuasive Essay On Pesticides

Pests live where they are not wanted and cause harm to humans, plants, and animals. To eliminate these pests, chemicals called pesticides are often used. Pesticides are not a modern invention. The first recorded use of pesticides is 4500 years ago by Sumerians who used elemental sulfur to rid their plants of insects. Persians around 2000 years ago are known to have used dried daises as an insecticide to protect their grain. Up until the 1940s natural sources were only used for pest control. In 1939, Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane, or DDT was discovered by Dr. Paul Muller and became the first synthetic pesticide. It was found be extremely effective, but many years later it was linked with serious health concerns leading to 86 countries banning

The most widely used ones are insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, bactericides, fungicides, and larvicides. In the US the EPA is the main body tasked with regulating pesticides. The USDA monitors pesticide residue in meat, eggs, and dairy, while the FDA monitors fruits and vegetables. The EPA’s power is defined by multiple laws. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act allows EPA to register pesticides upon meeting a set of guidelines. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act sets maximum tolerance pesticide levels on foods. The Food Quality Protection Act amended previous laws and required additional safety factors be applied for foods that are more common in diets of children. It also stated that tolerance should be judged based on aggregate exposure. Lastly, The Endangered Species Act required that pesticides will not be registered by the EPA that harm animals on the endangered

Overall, there is excessive and reckless usage of pesticides in this country. By being educated on methods like the Integrated pest management (IPM) we can more efficiently and effectively use pesticides. IPM focuses on using disease-resistant plants, encouraging natural predators of problem pests, and timing pesticide applications to when pests are most susceptible. For example a method IPM would recommend is changing irrigation practices to reduce pests, since too much water can increase root disease, weeds, and various species of bugs. Pesticides are only one weapon in the fight against pesticides. We need to utilize multiple other approaches like genetically engineered organisms. Scientists have taken a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and inserted a gene from the bacterium that produces a toxin into plants. This gene causes plants to produce the natural toxin that is harmless to humans, but lethal to certain insects. Farmers and consumers ultimately gain health benefits from reduced exposure to pesticide residue. Important environmental benefits are gained as well, it limits pesticide runoff that otherwise would pollute our environment. Billions of dollars of economic benefits are gained by reducing the need to purchase pesticides and machinery. There are even higher crop yields by utilizing the engineered plant. There is the