Everyone knows to some extent that pesticides are harmful to the environment. But the impact of them on every person and the health of the public on the whole are not understood by many people. There was an incident reported to have happened in the San Joaquin Valley in California on April 1st, 1990. A girl who was playing in front of her house suddenly fell down with foam in her mouth. She was brought to the hospital in a very critical state, and later she gradually recovered. The reason for her condition was investigated as the insecticide called Aldicarb which was found to be toxic to humans as well as for insects. She inhaled the insecticide from the truck containing the material that was parked near the play area. Therefore, acute exposure to pesticides can sometimes lead to death. When a person is exposed to a pesticide, the symptoms that are commonly observed are: wheezing, itchy eyes, burning, itchy throat and nose, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and coughing. These symptoms might not be diagnosed usually as the consequences of pesticide inhalation.
People’s exposure to pesticides for long durations can lead to serious nervous disorders. These nerve disorders might include Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Apart from these, the risk of developing disorders related to the endocrine system and the reproductive system is also observed after an exposure to pesticides. It was studied that women exposed to DDT had a higher risk for breast cancer development in the future. There are studies with proper evidence to say that women exposed to DDT while pregnant showed that their babies developed slowly. The reduced release of milk from the breast, decreased weight of the newly born babies, and premature deliveries were found to be caused by DDT exposure.
Similarly, the involvement of the Atrazine pesticide in triggering mammary and prostate cancers was revealed by research studies. The pesticides that are used at one place are also found to be traveling through the air to some other places and further polluting the drinking water in the basic water pumping system. The pesticides that have been used for a long time can diminish the crop yield and decrease the resistance of the plants to other pests as well as decrease the soil fertility.
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