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Pesticides and their harmful effects
Pesticides and their harmful effects
Pesticides and their harmful effects
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Endocrine disruption is becoming a major crisis for both humans and organisms in various parts of the globe. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’s) are classified as natural or synthetic compounds that antagonize endogenous hormones or alter hormone functionality in the organism. The exposure to EDC’s can result in alterations in transcriptional and epigenetic effects in various organisms, and may lead to a host of reproductive, neural, and developmental problems. These endocrine disruptors are dangerous even at low doses, and the disruptors are found in everyday products. One of the many examples of endocrine disruptors are the effects pesticides on amphibians and alligators. These model organisms have been observed to have an increased exposure
Amalin, D.M., Peña, J.E., Duncan, R., Leavengood, J., Koptur, S. (2009): Effects of Pesticides on the Arthropod Community in the Agricultural Areas near the Everglades
“High levels of hormones can cause problems in the human body, but can hormones we ingest really alter our hormone level...
...crine disruptors, to alter fetal and childhood development.” According to the OCA, formal studies have never been performed to check if residues from these hormones have any consequences in depleting human population. It can be inferred that the fetus could be susceptible to the sex steroids causing post-natal hindrances that become visible later in the humans life. These problematic health issues may present themselves at any time in the span of a humans life. One instance of a noticeable problem is females that encounter puberty prematurely are at a higher risk to develop breast cancer later in life. Men can undergo tribulations just as well as women in that they may be at risk to become fertile. Besides the negative effects on humans, some cattle become lame after receiving the drug. This factor caused Tyson foods to stop buying cattle that had been administered
Anabolic-androgenic steroids are a group of hormones, which includes the natural male hormone, testosterone, and a number of synthetic compounds. "Anabolic" refers to muscle building, while "androgenic" refers to increased masculine characteristics. Anabolic effects are basically muscle growth. Androgenic effects produce secondary male sex characteristics like facial hair, body hair, deepening of the voice, and so on. In the 1950's scientists were trying to isolate the muscle building properties without the masculinizing effects. This lead to the development of synthetic anabolic steroids.
When these “messages in bottles'; reach their appointed destination, the binding into the receptor site causes a cascade of reactions to occur. It is these reactions that are vital in maintaining our homeostasis. Many times the binding of the receptor site causes a direct expression of a certain gene. This is where endocrine disrupters can exert major damage. In addition to gene expression, endocrine disrupters cause havoc in many other areas of the body. What exactly are endocrine disrupting chemicals?
Childbirth is nothing short of a miracle. The placenta—the organ connecting a developing fetus to the uterine wall and allowing for waste elimination, nutrient uptake and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply—filters most harmful substances that threaten an embryo, though some may still pass on to the fetus. These harmful substances, called “teratogens,” range from environmental chemicals to the passing of maternal diseases, and can negatively impact the normal developmental cycle of a fetus. The title “teratogen,” however, effectually refers to any substance or chemical exposure with the potential to cause birth defects in prenatal development. Exposure to teratogens can result in a broad spectrum of physiological and psychological issues in later life, including malformations of the body. (Malformations resulting from exposure to one of the most common teratogens—alcohol—can be observed notoriously in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS, where patterns of mental and physical defects develop in association with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.) Though the toxicity of these teratogens is particularly damaging during the fourth through tenth weeks of gestation, teratogens can harm throughout the span of development in the womb.
Chemical pollution into the environment can cause both genotypic and phenotypic changes in many organisms, including humans. More specifically, environmental pollutants like BPA can act as xenoestrogens (estrogen imitators), ultimately affecting hormonal activity and production in an organism. This alteration in activity and production can be termed as endocrine disruption. The endocrine system regulates a variety of processes responsible for growth and development, including gonadal formation and function, digestion, metabolism, sex differentiation, and embryonic development (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012). Chemicals that interfere with the function or structure of the endocrine system can be defined as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).
A lot of evidence have linked breast cancer to the environmental chemicals. Since WWII, a great deal of endocrine disrupters (synthetic chemicals) have entered the environment, accumulated through the food chain, and finally accessed into human bodies (Brody et al.) . According to Gray et al., environmental chemicals are carcinogenic because they often interrupt hormone-regulated pathways, especially that of the estrogen, and thus cause negative genetic variations. Experiments carried out by Gray et al. indicate that breast tissue synthesize estrogen from local hormone (androgenic hormones) using aromatase, whose activity rate is abnormally higher in breast cancer tissue than that of normal breast tissue. Theoretically, “estrogen promotes the growth cancer cells in vivo” (Mitra et al); the fact that women are more likely to ...
One of the most controversial and commonly used pesticides at the moment is chlorpyrifos. The insecticide chlorpyrifos is used to repel mosquitoes, cockroaches, and fire ants from crops. However, studies show that chlorpyrifos can cause delays in infant brain development and decrease in birth weight, impair neonatal reflexes and motor skills, and increase risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Chlorpyrifos has also been linked as one of the strongest environmental exposures that leads to autism. Although chlorpyrifos has been banned for residential use, it is still used for agricultural purposes. There is an ongoing debate about whether chlorpyrifos should no longer be used on food crops at all. Even though there is a justifiable
Pesticides that behave like the female hormone estrogens can have serious effects on reproductive success and function on animal exposed to them. Reproductive success or fitness is defined by having live reproductively capable off...
To help keep crops from being destroyed, conventional farmers use many methods such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Nearly 1 billion pounds of these chemicals are used every year (“pesticides”). Because of this excessive use, some scientists express concern that using artificial chemicals in the farming process could produce unhealthy crops. People who ate it over a long period of time could suffer from degraded health and stunted growth (“Organic Foods”). For example, in 1989, the EPA banned the use of Alar which was a chemical used to ripen apples (“Farming, Organics”). This chemical proved to be carcinogenic after causing tumors in mice after several laboratory tests (“Organic Food”). As a result of these findings there was a dramatic increase of the sales for organic food (“Organic Food”). Another study found that Atrazine (one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States) has the potential of being carcinogenic and reducing sperm counts in males (“Organic Food”). This was further proven when evidence was found that chemicals u...
...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.
In a study conducted by the University of London’s Centre for Toxicology, 30 out of 37 commonly used pesticides have been tested to block or mimic male hormones (Cone). This blockage can affect testosterone levels negatively as well as other androgens produced within a male’s body causing serious health concerns with fertilization, hair loss, and low sex drive. The study also discovered that certain pesticides that are used within today’s agriculture can, “…activate or inhibit hormone receptors in cells that turn genes on and off” (Cone). Therefore, fetuses and infants can be at high risk when exposed in the womb or through breast milk since the hormones being turned on or off control masculinization of the reproductive tract. Overall, pesticides seem like they are doing more harm to human’s health then they are at keeping crops healthy and should be eliminated from modern agriculture
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (FWS). (2014, January 15). Pesticides and wild life. Retrieved form http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/info/ddt.html
An owl lies motionless on the ground. A necropsy of the dead bird reveals that it had slowly and horrifically internally bled to death after consuming a poisoned rat. Rodenticides are to blame for the owl’s death. Studies show that humans have used many forms of pesticides, one of them being rodenticides, to kill pests (“Rodenticides: Background & Hazards”). The United States, India, Argentina, and the Arctic are places where this problem is most impactful, as there is an increasing amount of pesticide usage in these areas (“Around the World”). These areas produce large amounts of pesticides, which can cause dangerous effects on the environment (“Around the World”). These pesticides should be replaced with natural predators, such as owls. According