The Plague Of Our Lives
Colombia is a country full of fauna and flora that is our richness, our wonder, the beauty of our country, we can see the nature and its diversity and there we see Colombia. This country is also our people, we are really happy and warm. Our streets are full with love, joining us in a culture of music, dances, and more. For years the health and safety of our community and our nature has been threatened by pesticides, and throughout this article we are going to show you why.
According to the world health organization pesticides are chemical compounds that are used to kill pests, including insects, rodents, fungi and unwanted plants (weeds). Pesticides are used in public health to kill vectors of disease, such as mosquitoes, and in agriculture, to kill pests that damage crops. By their nature, pesticides are potentially toxic to other organisms, including humans, and need to be used safely and disposed of properly.
Many people believe that some pesticides are safe, while others are dangerous. In fact, the words "safe" and "dangerous" were misleading. Any chemical substance, including any pesticide, may present risks to humans, animals or the environment.
The risk of a pesticide depends on two things, exposure (how much?) and toxicity (how poisonous?). Even low-toxicity products can be dangerous if exposure is high enough. This is the basis of the argument that "the dose makes the poison". For example, an aspirin is beneficial for pain or certain medical conditions, but taking too much aspirin can also be very dangerous. As the amount of exposure (dose) increases, so does the risk.
Pesticides are poisons and harmful to our health. Their toxicity and exposure can cause a number of health effects, they are link to serious illnesses and diseases, from respiratory problems to cancer.
Pesticides can be acutely toxic. This means that they can cause harmful or lethal effects after a single episode of ingestion, inhalation or skin contact. But they can also cause harmful effects over an extended period, usually following repeated or continuous exposure at low levels. Long term pesticide exposure has been linked to the development of Parkinson’s disease; asthma; depression and anxiety; attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and cancer, including leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Pesticides not only represent a threat to our health but also to the beauty of our country, the environment. Pesticides are used to ensure better crop health, but can be extremely detrimental to surrounding environments.This chemicals are sprayed over large areas of land and research has shown, for example, that over 95% of herbicides and over 98% of insecticides do not reach the targeted pest. Additionally, storage, transportation, and production allow some quantities of pesticides to be introduced to the environment. Pesticides can emigrate from treated fields to air, other lands, and water bodies.
"If pesticides are already in your food, then playing catch-up is required. First, how much pesticide might you face? Dr. Randy Oliver (scientificbeekeeping.com) presented this graph in 2013", showing Colombia has been using them much more than any other country researched:
BY: Natalia Rojas, Dina Reyes
and Isabella Duarte, Step 10.
The use of pesticides endangers the quality of water in areas close to fields, as these compounds are transported through water and air and contaminate both surface and groundwater. This has devastating effects. Perhaps the most detrimental of these effects is the aquatic organisms exposed through the skin, gills and by feeding, and depending on their solubility, accumulate in their tissues causing serious effects to animals, ecosystems and to us humans.
These chemicals are also carried by the wind and work their way into the soil, causing devastating effects as biodiversity loss, this means that the soil is less fertile and with lower quality, causing of less plant growth.
Wildlife is affected by pesticides uses as well. Many animal species may inadvertently ingest pesticides after eating food that has come into contact with the chemicals. Plants, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals (including humans) have all been affected by pesticide use. It appears that this man-made chemical was invented with the intention of improving and increasing crop yields to ensure the continued health of the human population. Unfortunately, its use has come with unintended and fatal consequences. Governments around the world need to act in order to control pesticide application and prevent some of its harmful and increasingly common side effects.
Our country has been battling the drug trafficking industry by using pesticides to kill the illegal crops since the 20’s. Do to the fact that it started causing problems to the native Americans community’s health, in 2015, the Constitutional Court banned spraying of illicit crops with theses herbicides because of the potential damage. After a few months the national narcotics council (CNE) approved this judgment. But In 2017, the same Court issued a new ruling leaving open the possibility of re-authorizing glyphosate in the fight against drugs if the Government met six environmental health requirements, since this industry was recovering its strength.
Nowadays in Colombia the use of pesticides is legal but every person that uses this chemical needs to be ridge by the article written in the constitution, that says that no harm should be make to the environment or other people.
To conclude this chemicals can be lethal if they aren’t used in a correct way, an example is the harm that pesticides cause to the native Americans communities’ health. The proper use of this toxic material will represent a serious improvement in the life of citizens and our precious treasure, nature will be protected to evolve and continue to bring joy to our life.
And always remember: “Save a dandelion’s life: don’t use pesticides. The life you save may actually be your own.
-Dandelion on Westcott.
BY: Natalia Rojas, Dina Reyes
and Isabella Duarte, Step 10.
