{"id":141,"count":16,"description":"Resources on pesticides, including myths & facts, corporate \"science\" and explainers on the reliance of chemicals in our food system.","link":"https:\/\/www.panna.org\/resource-category\/pesticides-101\/","name":"Pesticides 101","slug":"pesticides-101","taxonomy":"resource_category","parent":0,"meta":[],"featured_resources":[{"ID":47532,"post_title":"Pesticides 101","post_content":"All too often, these chemicals are allowed onto the market before their impacts are fully understood \u2014 and harms to our health and the environment are discovered years later. The science is increasingly clear that even low levels of exposure can harm human health, and children are particularly vulnerable.\r\n\r\nOur national rules governing pesticide use are surprisingly weak. Yet as public concern continues to grow, alternative approaches to managing pests are increasingly available and gaining ground in homes, schools and agricultural fields across the country.\r\n\r\nBelow is a brief, Pesticides 101, overview of the problem; explore our campaigns<\/a> to find out more about how PAN and our partners are building a healthy, thriving system of food and farming \u2014 and how you can help.\r\n

What are pesticides?<\/h2>\r\n\"RoundupInsecticides (bug killers), herbicides (weed killers), and fungicides (fungus killers) are all pest<\/strong>icides; so are rodenticides and antimicrobials. Pesticides come in spray cans and crop dusters, in household cleaners, hand soaps and swimming pools.\r\n\r\nInsecticides are generally the most acutely (immediately) toxic. Many are designed to attack an insect's brain and nervous system, which can mean they have neurotoxic effects in humans as well. Herbicides are more widely used (RoundUp and atrazine are the two most used pesticides in the world) and present chronic risks. This means ongoing, low-level exposures can increase the risk of diseases or disorders such as cancer, Parkinson\u2019s disease or infertility and other reproductive harms. Fungicides are also used in large amounts; some are more benign, some are not.\r\n\r\nPesticides are also sometimes broken down into chemical classes and modes of action. For example, fumigants<\/em> are pesticides applied as gases to \"sterilize\" soil, and systemics <\/em>work their way through a plant's tissue after being taken up at the root. Major chemical classes include: carbamates, organochlorines, organophosphates (mostly developed 70 or more years ago for chemical warfare) and triazines. Newer classes include pyrethroids and neonicotinoids, synthesized to mimic nature's pest protection. For more details on specific pesticides, visit our online database at www.pesticideinfo.org.\r\n

What is the \u201cpesticide treadmill?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n\"pesticideAlso referred to as the \"pesticide trap,\" farmers get caught on the treadmill as they are forced to use more and more \u2014 and increasingly toxic \u2014 chemicals to control insects and weeds that develop resistance to pesticides.\r\n\r\nAs \"superbugs\" and \"superweeds\" develop in response to widespread and continous use of chemicals, a farmer will spend more on pesticides each year just to keep crop losses at a standard rate.\r\n\r\nThe recent introduction of crops genetically engineered for use with the herbicide 2,4-D provides a clear example of the pesticide treadmill<\/a>. Widespread planting of RoundUp Ready crops and the associated application of RoundUp prompted weeds to develop resistance to the product. Resistant strains of \"Pigweed\" for instance, reportedly now grow with such vigor in southern cotton fields that the weeds can \"stop a combine in its tracks.\" Farmers are forced to return to use of 2,4-D \u2014 an antiquated, drift-prone chemical clearly linked to cancer and reproductive harms.\r\n\r\nOverall, pesticide resistance<\/a> is increasing. In the 1940s, U.S. farmers lost seven percent of their crops to pests. Since the 1980s, loss has increased to 13 percent, even though more pesticides are being used. Between 500 and 1,000 insect and weed species have developed pesticide resistance since 1945.\r\n\r\nRachel Carson clearly predicted the treadmill phenomenon in her 1962 book Silent Spring<\/em><\/a>.\r\n\r\nThere is another way. Agroecology<\/a> is the science behind sustainable farming. This powerful approach combines scientific inquiry with place-based knowledge and experimentation, emphasizing approaches that are knowledge-intensive, low cost, ecologically sound and practical. Home use of pesticides \u2014 which on a per acre basis outpaces use on farms by a ratio of 10 to 1 \u2014 puts families across the North America at unnecessary risk. Alternatives are available<\/a> to manage home, lawn and garden pests without toxic pesticides.\r\n

Which rules govern pesticides?<\/h2>\r\n\"SigningIn the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has primary authority to register and regulate pesticides. The agency's oversight of pesticides is authorized by the following federal laws<\/a>:\r\n\r\nThe Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act <\/strong>allows EPA to register pesticides using risk\/benefit standards (how much risk is balanced by how much benefit);\r\n\r\nThe Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act<\/strong> aims to increase protection for children and infants, including setting tolerances (maximum residues on food);\r\n\r\nThe Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA)<\/strong> amends previous laws by establishing a single safety standard for tolerances to increase protection of children from aggregate exposures (dietary, water and residential); and\r\n\r\nThe Endangered Species Act of 1973<\/strong> which requires that pesticides that will harm these species will not be registered.\r\n\r\nSome states<\/a> have additional, stricter rules restricting pesticide use, and in a handful of states, local cities and counties<\/a> can put even stricter rules in place.\r\n\r\nInternationally, pesticides are regulated through two <\/a>treaties<\/a> that PAN played a formative role in creating:\r\n