“How Have Pesticides Hurt The Earth”

1. “How Have Pesticides Hurt The Earth”

2. “How Have Pesticides Hurt The Earth” • What are pesticides? • Why are children at greater risk of pesticide exposure? • How do pesticides affect farm workers? • How do pesticides affect animals?

3. What are pesticides? • Pesticide is a chemical substance used to prevent, destroyed or kill pests, which are living organisms, like insects, bacteria and some viruses that cause damage to humans, animals and crops. • Because pesticides affect living organisms, they can also cause harm to humans, animals and the environment.

4. Why are children at greater risk of pesticide exposure? • They are several reasons why children may be at greater risk from exposure to pesticides. • Children cannot identify or protect themselves from hazardous materials in the house or outdoors. • Therefore, children can be exposed to pesticides in the air, through direct contact with plants, objects that we have at home or if they are playing in the fields that have been treated with pesticides.

5. How can pesticides affect children’s health? • Children’s organ systems are still in development and can be damaged by exposure to toxic substances more easily than adults. • The health effects of pesticides depend on the type of pesticide, some can affect the nervous system or others can irritate the skin and eyes. • A number of research studies have found higher instances of brain cancer, leukemia and birth defects in children with early exposure to pesticides. • You can reduce your child’s exposure to pesticides if you reduce the need to use pesticides at home. • Ensure that pesticides products are stored in safe containers where children do not have access to them. • Show your children signs of danger.

6. Children of farm workers are more likely to develop health problems because their parents working in the fields are being exposed to pesticides. What farm worker parents can do to protect their families especially their children is to take a shower before hugging their children and to remove their hats and shoes before coming inside their homes. Child of farm workers, born with birth defects from being exposed to pesticides. How do pesticides affect farm workers?

7. How do pesticides affect farm workers? • Farm workers are expose to some of the most dangerous pesticides every day because pesticides are heavily used in fields. • Many farmers use a variety of methods to fight pests including applying pesticides, but this can also bring health problems to workers. • Some health problems that farm workers have if they have been exposed to pesticides include, irritation in the eyes and skin.  Effects on internal organs can occur if a sufficient amount of pesticide is absorbed from the lungs, or mouth, but it may be possible to have long term effects from one than more time of being expose to pesticides. • Some farm workers who believe they have been exposed to pesticides are not likely to seek health care because they don’t have insurance in their jobs and cannot afford to see a doctor. Therefore, later in life they developed serious health problems in their nervous system.

8. Should farm workers have better protection against pesticides?94.6%Yes. Farm workers deserves a high level of safety2.9%No. Agriculture is inherently different from industry

9. Pesticides kills animals • The use pesticides continues to be questioned by health and environ mental specialists who are concerned about the chemicals' effects on the environment and human health. Not only do these chemicals affect people, but they also kill animals and birds.

10. How do pesticides affect animals? • Pesticides affect some animals because they can become poisoned by eating other animals that have been exposed to pesticides. • Many people feed and provide water for birds in their backyards, but the levels of pesticides in water may reach high enough levels to cause problems. They are many ways that pesticides can get into your water like surface water runoff can carry pesticides from areas such as agricultural fields. • Birds can die within an hour of being exposed to pesticides. • Pesticides likely poison an estimated 67 million birds per year according to the Smithsonian Institution.

12. "How Have Pesticides Hurt The Earth" Gloria Esquivel Chemistry 2A