Pesticidal residues near agricultural

Analysis of Pesticidal Residues in the Air Near Agricultural Treatment Sites... 

Of all the communities adversely affected by hazardous cotton pesticides, a substantial proportion are located in India home to more cotton farmers than any other country in the world. Indian cotton production is heavily associated with the intensive use of hazardous pesticides, and is responsible for over half of aU agricultural pesticides applied nationally. Within this figure Indian cotton is associated with some of the most hazardous pesticides used anywhere on earth . Characterized hy a near total lack of safety measures, low quality equipment, and with protective clothing often unavailahle or prohibitively expensive, Indian cotton production represents a highly unsafe environment within which to work f Observational studies reveal a heavy toll exerted on the health of those who work with cotton pesticides and chemical analysis has revealed traces of pesticide residues in blood samples taken from Indian cotton labourers. Cotton undoubtedly represents one of India s most important economic, nutritive and cultural commodities, but its conventional cultivation has become deeply problematic, both for those who grow it and because of the external costs of its impact on health and the en-vironmenP ... 

Environmental residues of pyrethroids and pyrethr-ins are degraded by hydrolysis, and pyrethrins by photolysis, and so do not accumulate in most ecosystems. The main environmental hazard associated with pyrethroid use is contamination of freshwater by acute run-off after use as an agricultural pesticide or ectoparisitide near to water, which can lead to death of aquatic invertebrates or fish (which have very limited pyrethroid detoxification capacity). 

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