Author(s)
Eating Poison Everyday (Part 2) : Pesticides 1-2 / 天天都在吃毒 (第二部) : 农药篇 1-2
3)
It’s not just about us……
Pesticides are calamities to: Farmers, bees, soil, water, air… the whole ecosystem.
Pesticides Hurt the Farmers
Yannick Chenet, a French winegrower, died after contracting leukemia, became the first farmer to have his illness officially linked to the pesticides he used for years on his crops. He is among 40 over farmers in France whose illnesses have now been officially linked to their profession and the pesticides they have sprayed on the land.
According to the estimation of Pesticide Action Network, globally there are about 41 millions farm workers poisoned by pesticides every year! According to the WHO data, about 350 thousands people die annually worldwide as a result of unintentional poisonings by pesticides (the figures have not even included those unreported cases yet).
On a global scale, pesticide-consuming is the most frequently used method for committing “suicide”, especially in those areas where pesticides are readily available.
Pesticides Hurt the Living Creatures
Bees disappearing? What’s so big of a deal? — It is.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) refers to the phenomenon of “mass disappearing” of bee population worldwide in recent years. Bee populations have dropped 30% per year since 2006 — lots of proofs indicate that pesticides are destroying the bee population globally. A study has found that more than two-thirds of pollen collected in the fields and brought back to the hive by worker bees was contaminated with up to 17 different toxic chemicals!
Bees are the important agent to transmit pollen. Without bees, fruits & vegetables will not be able to bear fruits, that is to say: We might face the catastrophe of “global food shortage”.
Pesticides have also been poisoning many aquatic animals, and changing the gender of frogs from males to females; prairie bird populations are also falling, scientists say pesticides are a primary culprit. 7 out of 10 biologists believe that the catastrophe of “mass extinction of living creatures” will bring more threats to earth than “global warming”!
Pesticides Hurt the Environment
Pesticides are one of the “top three worst toxic pollution” on planet; the invisible pesticides are hiding in our soil, water, air… Water & wind take over 98% of sprayed pesticides to places other than the intended field. Many of the chemicals used in pesticides are persistent soil contaminants, whose impact may endure for decades……
Pesticides CANNOT solve the problems of pests & weeds; on the contrary, many pests & weeds have developed “resistance” to pesticides, resulted in even more pesticides being sprayed. Since 1950, the amount of pesticides used has increased “50-folds” globally!
Note
Golf course/grass field/horticulture… are also using large amount of pesticides. Of the 30 most commonly used turf pesticides, 19 can cause cancer, 13 are linked to birth defects, 21 can affect reproduction and 15 are nervous system toxicants.
Extended Resources
- Pesticide Action Network – Pesticides & Health Hazards
- Pesticide Action Network – Environmental Impacts
- Wikipedia – Environmental Impact of Pesticides
- GreenPeace – The Bees’ Burden: Why Bees Need Our Help & We Need the Help of Bees
- GreenPeace – Plan Bee: Living Without Pesticides
- Beyond Pesticides – Golf, Pesticides & Organic Practices
To be continued……
3)
不只是关乎我们……
对于农夫、蜜蜂、土壤、水源、空气、以及整个生态来说，农药是大祸害。
农药伤害农夫
Yannick Chenet 是死于血癌的法国农夫。他是第一个被正式证实，所患疾病与“常年用在其农作物的农药”有关的农夫；和法国40多位农夫一样，患病原因与他们的职业和喷洒农药有关联。
Pesticide Action Network 估计，全球每年约有4千1百万农民因农药中毒！根据世界卫生组织，全球每年约有35万人因农药而死亡（这个数目还不包括那些没有报案的 ）。
农药是全球最常用来“自杀”的方法，特别是在那些容易取得农药的地区。
农药伤害生物
蜜蜂消失？很大件事吗？– 是的。
Colony Collapse Disorder（CCD）是指这几年全球蜜蜂“大量消失”的现象。自2006年，蜜蜂数量每年大约减少30% — 很多证据显示：农药正在毁灭全球的蜂群。一项研究发现：由工蜂从田野收集回蜂巢的花粉，有三分之二已被17种毒性化学物所污染！
蜜蜂是传播花粉大功臣；缺了蜜蜂，蔬菜水果无法结果，也就是说：我们将面临全球“缺粮大灾难”。
农药也使很多“水栖生物”中毒，并使青蛙由雄性变雌性；田野鸟类数量也在减少，科学家说农药是元凶。10个生物学家当中，有7个相信“生物大量灭绝”的大灾难将比“全球暖化”带给地球更大的威胁!
农药伤害环境
农药名列地球上“三大严重毒性污染”之一；无形的农药，藏身于我们的土壤、水、空气里… 水和风把超过98%喷撒的农药带到农田以外之处。农药里很多化学成份是持久性的土壤污染物，影响可能长达数十年……
农药“不能”解决害虫和野草的问题 — 很多害虫和野草产生了“抗药性”，结果农药反而越喷越多。从1950年到现在，国际的农药使用率增加了“50倍” !
注
高尔夫球场/草坪/园艺… 也使用大量农药。在30种最常使用的“草坪”农药当中，19种会致癌，13种跟胎儿缺陷有关，21种会影响生殖，15种是神经系统毒素。
延伸资讯
- Pesticide Action Network – Pesticides & Health Hazards
- Pesticide Action Network – Environmental Impacts
- Wikipedia – Environmental Impact of Pesticides
- GreenPeace – The Bees’ Burden: Why Bees Need Our Help & We Need the Help of Bees
- GreenPeace – Plan Bee: Living Without Pesticides
- Beyond Pesticides – Golf, Pesticides & Organic Practices
待续……
