Worry about pesticides.

Also on the topic of the commercial growing of crops, another worry is pesticides.

These end up polluting lakes, rivers and streams – not to mention the food itself! The water pollution inevitably impacts upon aquatic systems.

The use of pesticides also decreases the biodiversity of the soil. This damages the soil quality and actually reduces yields.

The two main chemical pesticides seem to be organophosphates and organochlorines, and although the organophosphates are somewhat safer, it appears that both types can cause health problems in farmers.

Obviously, we don’t want crops to be eaten away by insects, but I believe that there are safer, more organic, more labour intensive methods of keeping insects and other pests at bay.

Telegraph… you are right. about the organophosphates and organochlorines.

The characteristics of organochlorines are mostly hydro-phobic. So when present in the water column from agriculture return flows or stormwater runoff, the organochlorines tend to bind to the bottom sediment. This greatly affects the shellfish community which can also affect all the consumers of shellfish because organochlorines bioaccumulate….everyone has heard of DDT…although this is not used here in California anymore… (actually for 50 years) It is so resilient that if sediment in many rivers is sampled you will find DDT. The ones that are on the rise are pyrethroids.

Organophosphates such as Diazinon or Chlorpyrifos are also relatively dangerous. But luckily, OP pesticides are not as resilient as OC pesticides, and tend to break down faster in the environment. Diazinon does not bioaccumulate, but Chlorpyrifos does a little.

Nate

After reading your entries, I did a little research of my own on pesiticide alternatives. I campaign with Clean Water Action for pesiticde reduction in neighborhood parks. Let me know if any of these methods ring a bell or strike a chord:

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Sam

Because there is no sufficient evidence to prove this theory. A theory is only as good as the evidence it is based on, in this case not much. I do not worry about pesticide residues becuase no one has yet suffered anything from it.
People don’t have to worry about pesticide residues because the E.C.P.A (European Crop Protection Association) is very strict to ensure that their customers are protected and not exposed to residues levels that can affect our health.
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