The Pesticide Problem
The agricultural industry loses around 40% of its crop production annually to pests, amounting to over $70 billion in losses. These numbers would be even more substantial if it weren’t for pesticides, which are designed to destroy pests that are compromising crops. Over time, certain pests started to develop resistance to these pesticides, and they responded by increasing the toxicity of their pesticides.
A Threat to Our Health
While the agricultural industry
cannot survive without pesticides,
we cannot survive with them.
Pesticides are linked to a reduction in telomere length. Telomeres normally protect our chromosomes from obtaining genetic errors during DNA replication and naturally shorten as we age. Thus, shorter telomeres result in newly generated cells being prone to mutations. Given that pesticides boost telomere length reduction, they may cause cancer and other harmful illnesses caused by genetic mutations.
The Problem Is Everywhere
While the agricultural industry
cannot survive without pesticides,
we cannot survive with them.
Pesticide companies are aware of these effects and attempt to control their adversities by providing usage guidelines and restrictions. However, it is impossible to completely control pesticide drift (pesticide spray particles carried by the surrounding air), which is responsible for half of pesticide-related injuries in the United States. Pesticides can also make their way into our water supply,