Are Pestisides Good or Bad?
Have you ever thought about what you are putting in your mouth when you eat food? Pestisides are put on plants to protect them from insects, weeds, mold, and rodents. Although they are meant to be good, they are not. They can cause health problems when to much is exposed. Infants are more vulnerable because they still have organs that are growing inside of them. Also infants and children eat and drink more than adults do. Because of this the EPA sets standards of how much of the pestisides are permitted to be put on plants. http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/food/pesticides-andfood/food.html
The good thing about this is that it is good for the environment. It is good also because it does kill the bugs that eat the plants. I know myself that if were to bite into something with a bug in it, I wouldn’t be to happy. In fact, I probably wouldn’t buy from the consumer anymore. That brings up another pro, it is good for farmers. People don’t realize what they are eating, and if they don’t know the more convinced they are to eat it. http://altmed.creighton.edu/OrganicFood/perceived_pros_and_cons.htm
The cons to this is that pestisides are poisons. Like i said in the first paragraph, they can cause health problems for infants and children. They can kill or harm things that the user is not wanting targetting. Pestisides that are put in the ground can be washed into streams or any source of water that is used. For example, it can kill fish in the streams and contaminate the water so when people drink the water they can get sick. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_pesticides
In my personal opinion i think that they are bad. Maybe someone could come up with a new idea for killing pests. They are horrible for peoples health and for the person using them. They can cause infants to have bad health problems. It is also responsible for the polution in waters. Even though it is meant to be a good thing, I really don’t think that it is. Just remember to wash your fruits and vegi’s that you buy at the store.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Hannah,
I liked your article. I agree that pesticides are bad because they are causing problems for children and infants. I think they should use something else to kill the pests instead of something that is harmful to our bodies. I think you made a good argument. Good Job!
-Emily
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
Hannah, I liked you article. I thought that you had some very good points about the Pesticides, I agree with you on many of them. Also, I don’t think it is right that we do this to the plants even though it does get rid of the bugs and other things on them it still isn’t safe for us. I think you did a really nice job!!
March 27th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Hannah, I liked your article on the food pesticides. I think that if it was causing problems with children, families should be more alert as to what types of food to buy for their children. Although its good for the environment, I dont think they are all they good if they are hurting children, or adults. Besides that I think your article was really good
- Katie
March 30th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Hannah,
I read conflicting information. You said that pesticides do not harm the environment, then you discuss the effects of pesticides getting into the ground and into the water supply. What is the truth????
March 30th, 2009 at 9:37 am
The truth is that pesticides do harm the environment, but they also kill the the bad bugs that are in the food that people could possibly eat. So yes they are harmful the the environment.