Pesticide

A pesticide is a chemical, or sometimes biological agent such as a virus or bacteria, used to control, to repel, to attract, or to kill pests, which are organisms, including insects, weeds, birds, mammals, fish, and microbes, that compete with humans for food, destroy property, spread disease, or are considered a nuisance. Pesticides are usually, but not always, poisonous to humans.

Continuing Development of Pesticides

Pesticides are tools of convenience and are highly efficient for producers who are in the business of mass food production. Pesticide safety education and pesticide applicator regulation are designed to protect the public from pesticide misuse, but do not eliminate all misuse. Reducing the use of pesticides and replacing high risk pesticides is the ultimate solution to reducing risks placed on our society from pesticide use. For over 30 years, there has been a trend in the United States and in many other parts of the world to use pesticides in combination with alternative pest controls. This use of integrated pest management (IPM) is now commonplace in US agriculture. With pesticide regulations that now put a higher priority on reducing the risks of pesticides in our food supply and emphasize environmental protection, old pesticides are being phased out in favor of new reduced risk pesticides. Many of these reduced risk pesticides include biological and botanical deriviatives and alternatives. As a result, old, more hazardous, pesticides are being phased out and replaced with pest controls that reduce these health and environmental risks. Chemical engineers continually develop new pesticides to produce enhancements over previous generations of products. In addition, applicators are being encouraged to consider alternative controls and adopt methods that reduce the use of chemical pesticides. This process is on-going and will not solve all of our problems of pesticide use risks overnight.

Related Topics:
Integrated pest management - Chemical engineers

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