A History of Pesticides

A History of Pesticides PDF Author: Graham A Matthews
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 1786394871
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
In this fascinating book, Graham Matthews takes the reader through the history of the development and use of chemicals for control of pests, weeds, and vectors of disease. Prior to 1900 only a few chemicals had been employed as pesticides but in the early 1940s, as the Second World War raged, the insecticide DDT and the herbicide 2-4-D were developed. These changed everything. Since then, farmers have been using a growing list of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to protect their crops. Their use has undoubtedly led to significant gains in agricultural production and reduction in disease transmission, but also to major problems: health concerns for both users of pesticides and the general public, the emergence of resistance in pest populations, and environmental problems. The book examines the development of legislation designed to control and restrict the use of pesticides, the emergence of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the use of biological control agents as part of policy to protect the environment and encourage the sustainable use of pesticides. Finally, the use of new technologies in pest control are discussed including the use of genetic modification, targeted pesticide application and use of drones, alongside basic requirements for IPM such as crop rotations, close seasons and adoption of plant varieties with resistance to pests and diseases.

A History of Pesticides

A History of Pesticides PDF Author: Graham A Matthews
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 1786394871
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this fascinating book, Graham Matthews takes the reader through the history of the development and use of chemicals for control of pests, weeds, and vectors of disease. Prior to 1900 only a few chemicals had been employed as pesticides but in the early 1940s, as the Second World War raged, the insecticide DDT and the herbicide 2-4-D were developed. These changed everything. Since then, farmers have been using a growing list of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to protect their crops. Their use has undoubtedly led to significant gains in agricultural production and reduction in disease transmission, but also to major problems: health concerns for both users of pesticides and the general public, the emergence of resistance in pest populations, and environmental problems. The book examines the development of legislation designed to control and restrict the use of pesticides, the emergence of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the use of biological control agents as part of policy to protect the environment and encourage the sustainable use of pesticides. Finally, the use of new technologies in pest control are discussed including the use of genetic modification, targeted pesticide application and use of drones, alongside basic requirements for IPM such as crop rotations, close seasons and adoption of plant varieties with resistance to pests and diseases.

Banned

Banned PDF Author: Frederick Rowe Davis
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030021037X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Rachel Carson’s eloquent book Silent Spring stands as one of the most important books of the twentieth century and inspired important and long-lasting changes in environmental science and government policy. Frederick Rowe Davis thoughtfully sets Carson’s study in the context of the twentieth century, reconsiders her achievement, and analyzes its legacy in light of toxic chemical use and regulation today. Davis examines the history of pesticide development alongside the evolution of the science of toxicology and tracks legislation governing exposure to chemicals across the twentieth century. He affirms the brilliance of Carson’s careful scientific interpretations drawing on data from university and government toxicologists. Although Silent Spring instigated legislation that successfully terminated DDT use, other warnings were ignored. Ironically, we replaced one poison with even more toxic ones. Davis concludes that we urgently need new thinking about how we evaluate and regulate pesticides in accounting for their ecological and human toll.

DDT and the American Century

DDT and the American Century PDF Author: David Kinkela
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807869307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Praised for its ability to kill insects effectively and cheaply and reviled as an ecological hazard, DDT continues to engender passion across the political spectrum as one of the world's most controversial chemical pesticides. In DDT and the American Century, David Kinkela chronicles the use of DDT around the world from 1941 to the present with a particular focus on the United States, which has played a critical role in encouraging the global use of the pesticide. Kinkela's study offers a unique approach to understanding both this contentious chemical and modern environmentalism in an international context.

The Future Role of Pesticides in US Agriculture

The Future Role of Pesticides in US Agriculture PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309172942
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Although chemical pesticides safeguard crops and improve farm productivity, they are increasingly feared for their potentially dangerous residues and their effects on ecosystems. The Future Role of Pesticides explores the role of chemical pesticides in the decade ahead and identifies the most promising opportunities for increasing the benefits and reducing the risks of pesticide use. The committee recommends R&D, program, and policy initiatives for federal agriculture authorities and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This book presents clear overviews of key factors in chemical pesticide use, including: Advances in genetic engineering not only of pest-resistant crops but also of pests themselves. Problems in pesticide useâ€"concerns about the health of agricultural workers, the ability of pests to develop resistance, issues of public perception, and more. Impending shifts in agricultureâ€"globalization of the economy, biological "invasions" of organisms, rising sensitivity toward cross-border environmental issues, and other trends. With a model and working examples, this book offers guidance on how to assess various pest control strategies available to today's agriculturist.

Pesticides

Pesticides PDF Author: Graham Matthews
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405172983
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Over the last five decades pesticides have undoubtedly helped toincrease agricultural production and control vectors of disease,however the environmental impact of long term agro-chemical use hasbeen cause for concern along with the effects on human health. In Pesticides, Graham Matthews begins by looking at thedevelopmental history of pesticides, and how crop protection wasachieved before they were in use, how pesticides are registered foruse and what happens to pesticides in food and the environment.Pesticide application and operator safety is investigated and thefuture of pesticides in light of the development of geneticallymodified crops is explored. Provides commercially important information for theagro-chemical industry Addresses all aspects of public concern relating to humanhealth and the environment, including spray drift, bystander,resident and worker exposure Looks at the future of pesticides in light of the increasingprevalence of genetically modified crops Collecting together the most recent research in the area in asingle volume, this book is a vital resource for agriculturalscientists, agronomists, plant scientists, plant pathologists,entomologists, environmental scientists, public health personnel,toxicologists, crop protection personnel and all those involved inthe agrochemical industry and government pesticide registration andlegislation.

Toxic Drift

Toxic Drift PDF Author: Pete Daniel
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807132454
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Following World War II, chemical companies and agricultural experts promoted the use of synthetic chemicals as pesticides on weeds and insects. It was, Pete Daniel points out, a convenient way for companies to apply their wartime research to the domestic market. In Toxic Drift, Daniel documents the particularly disastrous effects this campaign had on the South's public health and environment, exposing the careless mentality that allowed pesticide application to swerve out of control. The quest to destroy pests, Daniel contends, unfortunately outran research on insect resistance, ignored environmental damage, and downplayed the dangers of residue accumulation and threats to fish, wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Using legal sources, archival records, newspapers, and congressional hearings, Daniel constructs a moving, fact-filled account of the use, abuse, and regulation of pesticides from World War II until 1970.

Toxicology of Pesticides

Toxicology of Pesticides PDF Author: Lucio G. Costa
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642708986
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
The protection of human health and food and fiber resources against the ravages of pests of many sorts is a continuous struggle by all people in the world. The use of chemical pesticides as an aid in this struggle is now also global. These chemicals are deliberately added to the environment for the purpose of killing or injuring some form of life. Because pesticides are generally less selectively toxic than would be desired, non-target species, including humans, must be protected from injury by these chemicals. This can only be achieved by thorough understanding of the comparative toxicology of these compounds, and by minimizing human (and other desirable species) exposure. The latter can only be achieved by sound regulatory policies that utilize scientific principles and data, properly tempered by both gaps in that data and sociologic and economic considerations. This book contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Toxicology of Pesticides: Experimental, Clinical and Regulatory Perspectives" held in Riva del Garda on October 6-15, 1986. This NATO-ASI has been promoted by the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington at Seattle, by the Institute of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milano and by the Giovanni Lorenzini Foundation, and has been sponsored by both the Society of Toxicology (USA) and the Italian Society of Toxicology.

Pesticides, A Love Story

Pesticides, A Love Story PDF Author: Michelle Mart
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700626492
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
"Presto! No More Pests!" proclaimed a 1955 article introducing two new pesticides, "miracle-workers for the housewife and back-yard farmer." Easy to use, effective, and safe: who wouldn't love synthetic pesticides? Apparently most Americans did—and apparently still do. Why—in the face of dire warnings, rising expense, and declining effectiveness—do we cling to our chemicals? Michelle Mart wondered. Her book, a cultural history of pesticide use in postwar America, offers an answer. America's embrace of synthetic pesticides began when they burst on the scene during World War II and has held steady into the 21st century—for example, more than 90% of soybeans grown in the US in 2008 are Roundup Ready GMOs, dependent upon generous use of the herbicide glyphosate to control weeds. Mart investigates the attraction of pesticides, with their up-to-the-minute promise of modernity, sophisticated technology, and increased productivity—in short, their appeal to human dreams of controlling nature. She also considers how they reinforced Cold War assumptions of Western economic and material superiority. Though the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the rise of environmentalism might have marked a turning point in Americans' faith in pesticides, statistics tell a different story. Pesticides, a Love Story recounts the campaign against DDT that famously ensued; but the book also shows where our notions of Silent Spring's revolutionary impact falter—where, in spite of a ban on DDT, farm use of pesticides in the United States more than doubled in the thirty years after the book was published. As a cultural survey of popular and political attitudes toward pesticides, Pesticides, a Love Story tries to make sense of this seeming paradox. At heart, it is an exploration of the story we tell ourselves about the costs and benefits of pesticides—and how corporations, government officials, ordinary citizens, and the press shape that story to reflect our ideals, interests, and emotions.

Before Silent Spring

Before Silent Spring PDF Author: James C. Whorton
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400871808
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Modern consumers are well aware that the food they eat is tainted by pesticidal residues; they are less aware that their great-grandparents faced the same hazard. James C. Whorton's history of this public health menace emphasizes that insecticides have been contaminating produce since the introduction of chemical pesticides in the 1860s. The book examines the period before the publication of Rachel Carson's famous Silent Spring, tracing the origins of the residue problem and exploring the complicated network of interest groups that formed around the issue. The author shows how economic necessities, technological limitations, and pressures on regulatory agencies have brought us to "our present dilemma of seemingly having to poison our food in order to protect it." In Part I, the agricultural and medical literature of the past century is used to analyze the emergence by 1920 of a public health danger of serious proportions. Part II draws heavily on the unpublished records of the Food and Drug Administration to document how the ineffective handling of this danger established precedents for present pesticide abuses. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children

Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309048753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues. The committee focuses on four major areas: Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides? Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure? Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age? Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life? This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.