Ahhh...spring. The blooming of flowers, chirping of baby birds, and the sweet, sweet smell of pesticides. As humans begin to plant their fruit and veggies, those pesky little caterpillars love to come visit for their daily snacking. Because of this, it's easy to want to get something to keep them away. But, in an article I recently read, it talked about the detrimental effects household pesticides can have not only on the environmental health, but human health.
Most of our fruits and vegetables come from farms, where farmers rely on pesticides to ensure there's no chance in losing their crops. So, they spray certain chemicals that repel insects and animals, to keep them from munching on their money-makers. But not only are pesticides found on farms, they're probably sitting in your home right now. For example, that bug spray you cover yourself in to repel those blood-thirsty mosquitos, or that weed-repellent spray you have to kill those so called "flowers" known as dandelions.
So what is really so harmful about this method of keeping bugs away? Firstly, pesticides can affect the environment in numerous ways, such as: killing sea life from pollution and therefore disrupting the ecosystem (this relates to our fourth unit, Solutions & Solubility, as it is one of the main areas where pesticides affect the environment, and forms a deadly solution for the inhabitants who live there), as well as harming other wildlife such as frogs from volatilization (when the pesticide turns into a vapour and gets into the air animals like frogs breathe). Some scientists link this to reproductive issues with the frogs. Not only does it affect the environment and its little creatures, but it can also have devastating effects on humans as well. When you eat non-organic fruit that has been sprayed with pesticides, you're eating over 30 different pesticides, where the poison gets stored in your colon that builds up, and eventually poisons you (even if you wash it). Plus, countless studies have linked cancer, Alzheimers Disease, ADHD, and even birth defects to being exposed to these chemicals.
So how can you avoid it? Eat organic as much as possible. Although organic farms do still use pesticides, they are more natural and safer than conventional ones, and in turn are much better for you and the world around you. After reading this article, it definitely has made me reconsider eating organic foods as it is important to know what I'm putting in my body (this is coming from someone who doesn't wash their fruit before eating it). I think it's really important to inform more people about the dangers and health risks they face when eating fruit and veggies covered in poison.
Has this article made you reconsider going organic? And do you think it's worth spending a little extra money to get organic produce? Should this be illegal?
Link to article:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/green-science/the_dangers_of_pesticides
I'm commenting on this post as I'm eating (non-organic) strawberries, feeling a little bit nauseous knowing that I might be eating pesticides. I never really put much thought into eating organic in the past but this article made me consider it. The prices of organic food are definitely a little bit ridiculous and I think that grocers should start reasonably pricing organic food, that way people can actually afford it.
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