1. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pest Control
Chapter 12
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

2. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Outline:
Pests
Pesticides
Use and Types
Benefits
Problems
Alternatives
Reducing Exposure
Regulating Use
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

3. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
PESTS AND PESTICIDES
Biological Pests - Organisms that reduce the availability, quality, or value of resources useful to humans.
Only about 100 species of organisms cause 90% of crop damage worldwide.
Insects are most frequent pests.
Make up three-fourths of all species.
Generalists
Compete effectively against specialized endemic species.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

4. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticides
Pesticide - Chemical that kills (repels) pests.
Biocide - Kills wide range of organisms.
Herbicide - Kills plants.
Insecticide - Kills insects.
Fungicide - Kills fungi.
Acaricide - Kills mites, ticks, and spiders.
Nematicide - Kills nematodes
Rodenticide - Kills rodents.
Avicide - Kills birds.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

5. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
PEST CONTROL HISTORY
Sumerians controlled insects with sulfur 5,000 years ago.
Chinese describe mercury and arsenic to control pests 2,500 years ago.
People have used organic compounds and biological controls for a long time.
Romans burned fields and rotated crops to reduce crop disease.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

6. Synthetic Chemical Pesticides
Modern era of pest control began in 1934 with DDT.
Cheap, stable, soluble in oil, and easily spread over a large area.
Highly toxic to insects, but relatively nontoxic to mammals.
Paul Mueller received Nobel prize in 1948 for the discovery.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

7. PESTICIDE USES AND TYPES
Pesticide use has increased dramatically since WWII.
Almost nothing in 1950 to $33 billion for 2.6 metric tons in 1999.
90% of pesticides are used in agriculture or food storage and shipping.
In US, household applications represent 12% of all pesticide use, but almost 23% of insecticide use.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

8. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticide Types
Inorganic Pesticides - Broad-spectrum, generally highly toxic, and essentially indestructible. (arsenic - copper)
Generally neurotoxins
Natural Organic Pesticides (Botanicals) - Generally plant extracts. (nicotene - phenols)
Fumigants - Small molecules that gasify easily and penetrate materials rapidly. (carbon tetrachloride - ethylene dibromide)
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

9. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticide Types
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons - Fast acting and highly toxic to sensitive organisms. (DDT - mothballs)
Inhibit nerve membrane ion transport and block nerve signal transmission.
Persistent - Tend to biomagnify.
Organophosphates - Extremely toxic to mammals, birds and fish. (Malathion)
Outgrowth of nerve-gas research.
Inhibit neurotransmitter enzyme.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

10. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticide Types
Carbamates - Similar to organophosphates. (Sevin). - Extremely toxic to bees.
Biological Controls
Microbial agents
Bacteria
Parasitic Wasps
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

11. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
PESTICIDE BENEFITS
Disease Control
Many insects serve as disease vectors.
Malaria, Yellow Fever
Crop Protection
Using pesticides, pre-harvest losses to diseases and pests are at 30%, with post-harvest losses at an additional 20-30%.
In general, farmers save an average of $3-$5 for every $1 spent on pesticides.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

12. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
PESTICIDE PROBLEMS
Non-Target Species
Up to 90% of pesticides never reach intended target.
Pesticide Resistance
Resistant members of a population survive pesticide treatment and produce more resistant offspring.
Pest Resurgence
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

13. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticide Resistance
UN reports at least 500 insect pest species and 250 weeds and plant pathogens have developed chemical resistance.
Farmers must continually change dosages or chemicals to fight resistant pests.
Increasingly, pests are being found to be resistant to chemicals they have not been exposed to.
Genetically-engineered crops likely to exacerbate the problem.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

14. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Pesticide Resistance
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

15. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Creation of New Pests
Broadcast spraying is also likely to kill beneficial predators.
Under normal conditions many herbivorous pests are controlled by natural predators.
With advent of chemical pest controls, farmers have tended to abandon traditional methods of pest/pathogen control.
Mixed crops and rotation regimes.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

16. Environmental Persistence and Mobility
Because chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT) are so persistent, they tend to show up far from the point of dispersal.
Stored in fat bodies, and thus tend to bioaccumulate.
High levels detected in upper levels of food chain.
DDT banned from US for over twenty years, but high levels still detected in some areas.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

17. Environmental Persistence and Mobility
Many persistent organic pollutants were banned globally in 2001.
Use was banned or restricted in developing countries for years, but between 1994 and 1996, the US shipped more than 100,000 tons of DDT and POP’s annually.
Many returned to US in agricultural products and migrating wildlife.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

18. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Human Health Problems
WHO estimates between 3.5 and 5.0 million people suffer acute pesticide poisoning, and 20,000 die, each year.
At least two-thirds resulting from occupational hazards in developing countries.
Long-term health effects difficult to conclusively document.
PCB’s have been linked to learning deficiencies in children.
Intake during mother’s pregnancy.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

19. ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDE USE
Behavioral Changes
Crop Rotation
Mechanical Cultivation
Flooding Fields
Habitat Diversification
Growing in Pest-Free Zones
Adjusting Planting Times
Plant Mixed Polycultures
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

20. Alternatives to Pesticides
Biological Controls
Predatory / Herbivorous Insects
Genetics and Bioengineering
Hormones
Sex Attractants
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

21. Integrated Pest Management
Flexible, ecologically-based strategy that uses a combination of techniques applied at specific times aimed at specific pests.
Tries to minimize use of chemical controls and avoids broad spectrum controls.
Employs economic thresholds to determine the point at which potential economic damage justifies pest control expenditures.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

22. REDUCING PESTICIDE EXPOSURE
Less than 10% of active pesticide ingredients have been subjected to a full battery of chronic health-effect tests.
Of the 321 pesticides screened, EPA reports 146 are probable human carcinogens.
Since 1972, only 40 pesticides have been banned.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

23. Regulating Pesticides
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) all share federal responsibility for regulating pesticides used in food production in the US.
EPA regulates sale and use, and sets tolerance levels.
FDA and USDA enforce pesticide use and tolerance levels set by EPA.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

24. Regulating Pesticides
1999, EPA banned use of methyl parathion on all fruit and many vegetables, and limited the quantity of azinphos methyl that can be used on foods common in children’s diets.
Studies show children are more susceptible than adults to toxic pesticides because they are still developing and have less natural protection.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

25. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Summary:
Pests
Pesticides
Use and Types
Benefits
Problems
Alternatives
Reducing Exposure
Regulating Use
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

26. Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.