Pesticide use

Pesticide facts

·         Pesticides are used to destroy insects or organisms that pose a threat to cultivated plants or animals.

·         Over $2.6 billion worth of pesticides are sprayed each year over cotton fields, this equates to 10% of the global pesticide use.

·         Pesticide use is causing harm to our environment, not only is it destroying the species it is intended for it is killing other animals, plants and harming humans that come into contact with them.

·         Children are extremely vulnerable when it comes to pesticides, pesticides have known to cause many illnesses and diseases to children who have come into contact with them such as autism, ADHD and pesticides can also cause birth defects.

·         An estimated 20,000-40,000 people die of accidental pesticide poisoning each year.

·         Pesticide use has been weakening our earth’s natural eco-systems for years and something needs to be done before pesticide use causes extinction of animals and plants.

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/29/bee-harming-pesticides-banned-europe

Article

·         A ban has been put on the use of a pesticide that is extremely harmful to bees and is endangering the species. This ban has been imposed in Europe and is the world’s first continent pesticide ban.

·         The UK changed their vote last minute to a ‘no’ this was heavily criticised by many environmental campaigners and other countries but the ‘no’ vote was still a minority and the ban went ahead.

·         Without the use of this pesticide some people think that harm will be caused to food crops and this was the reasoning behind the majority of the ‘no’ votes. Surely technology has advanced and something other than pesticide use can be used in cultivation on plants? Research on alternative processes needs to take place as although we are heavily reliant on pesticide use we cannot keep harming our environment and our natural eco-systems with the use of them.