After taking about the controversy initiated by Rachel Carson over the exploitation of DDT and other synthetic insecticides, I became curious about current pesticide use in farming. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) released a document showing both the US and world market for all pesticide use for 2006 and 2007. The cumulative amount of money spent world wide for both years was $75,257,000,000 with the US contributing 33%. Agriculture is the main use for pesticides and total pounds of pesticide use for agriculture decreased approximately 7% from 2000 to 2007. Having said that, 877 million pounds of pesticides are still being used in agricultural practices.

It is important to discern between different types of pesticides as they have varying levels of toxicity. Organophosphates are particularly dangerous as they act as a neurotoxin and effect brain function. These types of pesticides are also on the decline, however, 33 million pounds are still being used annually and levels of organophosphates are still detected in food and the bodies of most humans.

Another interesting fact that I was unaware of, was the use of pesticides in organic farming. I guess it may be that I am naive, but I was under the impression that organic farming was free of chemical deterrents. In fact, organic farming practices allow the use of pesticides as long as they are derived via natural processes and not through synthetic means. Again, this sounds like its not so bad until you dive a little deeper. Most organic pesticides are low potency, due primarily to the fact that they are naturally produced. While some organic farmers are using these low potency pesticides, they still desire and often times require, the same protection as seen with synthetic pesticides. So, by the nature of the beast, organic farmers use higher quantities of there low dose drugs to achieve the same effects of chemically derived pesticides. A recent study investigated the effectiveness of a synthetic vs non synthetic pesticide. Rotenone-pyrethrin, a common organic pesticide, and imidan, a “soft” synthetic pesticide were compared to determine the required quantity for similar protection. It as found that seven applications of the rotenone-pyrethrin mixture was equivalent to two applications of imidan. Furthermore, it was observed that rotenone is extremely toxic to aquatic life.

After reading about this I had to ask myself, is there any good practical use for pesticides in agricultural farming. I am sure there might be a limited few chemicals that are not too bad and have positive effects. However, similar to Rachel Carson, I believe most chemicals we introduce into our environment have negative effects. Often times these effects are covered up, as they were during the time Carson’s was writing, or the effects are long term and we have not seen what’s to come.