Pesticides controversy

Technology is not an end in itself but a means to an end, which is public welfare. Scientists tend to forget that it is the public which in the final analysis has the responsibility to decide what it considers to be in its best interest. One of the most important duties of the scientist is to communicate his knowledge to the public. Too often the scientist sees his role as a decision-making one and often even without explanation. Subsequent public protest is then labelled emotional or worsen Incidentally, the term emotional is, in my opinion, the most misused word in the pesticide controversy. The word which should be substituted for emotional is irrational, for we must not be irrational about a subject as important as pesticides. At the same time we should be, and cannot escape being, emotional as well. 

The detection of a potent dioxin impurity in a major herbicide has focused attention on the nature of chlorinated impurities in pesticides, and in a larger sense, impurities in all chlorinated industrial compounds used extensively in man s environment. The present 2,4,5-T controversy is overshadowed by the dioxin problem. Major disagreement still exists on their relative contributions to the teratogenic effects observed in chicks and the validity of interpretation of high dosage rates used to achieve these effects. We have avoided any assessment of the health-related aspects of dioxins but have dealt almost exclusively with dioxins as an environmental entity. 

Little information has been published on pesticide degradation products, produced in coffee, that may have significant physiological effects. Some information has been published, however, for glyphosate,191 aldicarb,194 and carbofuran,187 although there is some controversy surrounding the carbofuran data.188... 

Stevens JT, Greene FE, Stitzel RE, et al. 1973. Effects of anticholinesterase insecticides on mouse and rat liver microsomal mixed function oxidase. In Deichmann W.B., Ed. Pesticides and the environment A continuing controversy. Proceedings of the 8th Inter-American Conference on Toxicology and Occupational Medicine, University of Miami School of Medicine, 489-501. 

Since 1974, the USEPA has conducted many incineration tests for pesticide destruction. Most pesticides tested were capable of being destroyed to an efficiency of more than 99.99%. The only exception was Mirex, with 98-99% destruction. However, investigators felt that destruction could be improved to the 99.99% level with a somewhat more effective incinerator design. Incineration has become very controversial in recent years because of the potential to generate dioxin under high temperature conditions. 

The F.W.G.P.M. Task Force addressed itself mainly to the problem of organophosphates, and its terms of reference were to identify areas in which information on occupational exposure to workers was unavailable, to make recommendations for the development of research protocols to determine safe reentry levels for the protection of agricultural and forest workers, and to suggest interim reentry standards based on existing knowledge. The report was controversial but drew attention to the lack of a substantial data base and to the urgent need for surveillance of pesticide-related morbidity and mortality and for research to identify factors influencing safe worker reentry levels. 

One of the major differences among the past studies is the set of assumptions and the estimates about base or starting production conditions prior to the proposed pesticide cancellation. For detailed benefit assessments it is desirable to have the average pesticide use, crop acreage, and crop yield that would prevail over the next 5 years without a cancellation. Usually, 5-year average crop yields and crop acres as estimated by USDA are utilized without assuming any trend over time. Baseline crop yield is usually not controversial, but crop acres and herbicide use are. 

PP.253-266, in Pesticides and the Environment A Continuing Controversy. Inter-American Conf. on Toxicol, and Occup. Med., Symposia Specialists, N. Miami (1973) ... 

Since its adoption, the 1938 law has been amended repeatedly, eventually extending the FDA s regulatory powers to pesticides and food additives. In 1958, the Delaney clause was incorporated into the law. This now controversial provision prohibits the approval of any food additive found to induce cancer in humans or animals. 

By the mid-1980s, the general situation was clear enough. The continuation of our present industrial civilization with its reliance on fossil fuels, extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, and the resulting contaminants will lead eventually to collapse from exhaustion of resources (Meadows, 1972) (Fig. 15.2), and from the health and economic consequences of environmental pollution. There is controversy about the time at which a breakdown would be apparent, but it is clear to those who are conscious ofthe huge inertia in the industrial processes that are causing the trouble... 

Coloring materials and pesticides on raw agricultural products are covered by other laws. The GRAS list contains several hundred compounds, and the concept of such a list has been the subject of controversy (Hall 1975). 

IFCS in 2000 also recognised the role of information exchange in relation to toxic chemicals in the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. It encouraged its implementation. The Convention went into force in 2004. It requires information prior to export of some 30 chemicals that are listed, most of these with very little circulation. Additions of live chemicals have been very controversial. At the Conference of the Parties in 2008, agreement was reached to add tributyl tin compounds but not concerning chrysotile asbestos and endosulfane. The IFCS in 2000 also recognised the importance of providing all relevant parties with safety information consistent with the safety data sheets. 

In recent years, there have been a number of examples of such problems (Table II.). The proposed data requirements for pesticide registration prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency address this topic. This has been an extremely controversial regulatory problem. It is clearly important to know the composition of applied pesticides including the major associated contaminants in order to assess their potential for environmental impact, but as the quantitative significance of... 

T he subject of " Identification of Pesticides at the Residue Level is both timely and important in this period when we are actively reviewing the values and hazards of pesticide usage, since such a review is dependent upon reliable analytical data. Therefore, the reporting of unconfirmed residue data is misleading and can often result in controversy. The use of infrared spectrophotometry has pioneered in this important task of confirming the identity of pesticide residues. 

In spite of the worldwide controversy which has surrounded the use of pesticides for many years, there can be little doubt that they provide one of the most effective contributions to increasing crop production and they have helped the farmer to improve the quality and variety of our foodstuffs. However, even when used correctly, these compounds can cause ecological consequences, public health problems, and the occurrence of toxic residues in foodstuffs. These problems make necessary the development of analytical methodologies that allow the appropriate monitoring of pesticides residues. 

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