2013-10-11 13:30:13 -
Pesticides are substances meant for preventing, destroying or mitigating any pest. They are a class of biocide. The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from damaging influences such as weeds, diseases or insects. This use of pesticides is so common that the term pesticide is often treated as synonymous with plant protection product, although it is in fact a broader term, as pesticides are also used for non-agricultural purposes. According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 9 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are pesticides.
Pesticides are often categorized according to the type of pest they control. Pesticides can also be
considered as either biodegradable pesticides, which will be broken down by microbes and other living beings into harmless compounds, or persistent pesticides, which may take months or years before they are broken down: it was the persistence of DDT, for example, which led to its accumulation in the food chain and its killing of birds of prey at the top of the food chain.
One of the most important types of pesticides is the organophosphates. These pesticides are currently in the news for all the wrong reasons! Organophosphates which are primarily used in the agricultural sector as insecticides are supposed to protect the crops that we ingest in the course of the food chain. But they cause more harm than any good. They are extremely toxic. They cause a phenomenon called organophosphate poisoning (OP).Organophosphate poisoning results from exposure to organophosphates (OPs), which cause the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), leading to the accumulation of acetylcholine (ACh) in the body. When cholinesterase is inactivated, acetylcholine builds up in the nerves, which become overactive. Victims of organophosphate poisoning typically die because they can't breathe. Organophosphate poisoning most commonly results from exposure to insecticides. The risk of death depends on the amount of exposure and the age of the victim. The symptoms tend to be more severe in young children. They're more vulnerable because their detoxification systems are more immature, so they can't eliminate the pesticide. OPs are one of the most common causes of poisoning worldwide. There are around 1 million OP poisonings per year with several hundred thousand resulting in fatalities annually. Organophosphates are so toxic to humans that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken steps to limit their availability to the public. In addition to their use in agriculture, organophosphates are also used in public health applications—like the elimination of the mosquitoes that harbor the West Nile virus—in some countries.
The hazard potential of this chemical was demonstrated recently by the tragedy that hit India. As was reported in an article in BBC news dated 20th July, 2013 the presence of a toxic and highly potent insecticide called monocrotophos in the food served as mid day meal to small innocent children in the state of Bihar, India resulted in the death of 23 of them. "It was the high quantity of monocrotophos insecticide found in the food which proved fatal for the school children", said Ravindra Kumar, a top police official in Bihar state capital Patna. The Indian children, aged four to twelve, fell ill on 16th July, 2013 after eating a lunch consisting of rice, soybeans, and lentils in the village of Mashrakh in the eastern state of Bihar.
The school that the children attended provided free meals under a nationwide program known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. One of the biggest such schemes in the world, it was introduced to combat hunger and boost school attendance, and reaches 120 million children in 1.2 million schools across the country, according to the government. Early reports suggest the food—perhaps the rice or the cooking oil used to prepare the food—contained unsafe levels of the pesticide. The swiftness of the deaths—in some cases, hours after exposure—suggests the dose could have been quite high. The children, aged between five and twelve, were buried in and around the school in the village of Dharmasati Gandaman.
Monocrotophos is an organophosphate insecticide. It is acutely toxic to birds and humans, and for that reason has been banned in the U.S. and many other countries. Widespread bird kills, especially of Swainson's Hawks, have resulted from the use of monocrotophos. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) categorizes this insecticide as Category 1 i.e. highly toxic.
The Indian school case is not the first instance of organophosphate poisoning. In 1986, more than 20 people in Sierra Leone, many of them children, died after eating bread made with flour that was transported in a truck that was previously used to carry organophosphates.
Such is the severity of the effects of these harmful pesticides. True to human selfish nature, people just think about quick solutions to fulfill their current needs without giving the future generation a single thought. It is high time we think about our future generation so that unlike us they don’t have to pay for the sins committed by their ancestors. It is time we open our eyes and do away with the practice of using these harmful chemicals for good!
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“After all, how often do we get a second chance