In Defense Of Pesticides

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s easy to take our quality of life for granted. Technology has given society gifts that make our lives more enjoyable and sustainable. But, even today, insect pests, weeds and fungal diseases cause billions of dollars worth of damage to our food supply, our homes and our health.

Pesticides play a vital role in managing a wide variety of damaging pests. The benefit of pesticides lies in their ability to manage pest (weed, insect or disease) problems that potentially could get out of control and threaten your health or the health of families, pets and plants, or threaten the quality of a home, lawn, school or business.

Pesticides help limit damage inflicted by insects, weeds and plant diseases. Whether an insecticide for controlling termites, fleas or ants in and around a home, a herbicide for ridding lawns of dandelions and other weeds, or a fungicide that keeps plants alive during a disease outbreak, pesticides are analogous to the medicines we use to preserve our own health.

MAINTAINING PUBLIC HEALTH. According to Dr. Jerome Goddard, state medical entomologist, Mississippi Department of Health, Jackson, Miss., pesticides are extremely important to human survival. "They are essentially ‘environmental medicines’ to correct insect imbalances. Not only are they needed for crop protection, but as public health tools.

"Certainly, integrated pest management and other strategies to reduce pesticide use are in order, but in many cases, insect and weed populations explode and are unmanageable by non-chemical methods," Goddard continued. "We must have pesticides readily available for use. We need all legitimate pesticide registrations to remain in effect as part of our repertoire of weapons against pests. Anything less and the public’s health and well-being will be compromised."

However, from time to time, questions arise regarding pesticide safety. The rigorous research, testing and registration process pesticides go through to make it from discovery to the marketplace helps ensure these products can be used effectively and with confidence.

RESEARCH AND TESTING. Insecticide products today require an investment of eight to 10 years and more than $50 million before the product even reaches the marketplace. Every pesticide product brought to market today is subject to more than 120 separate tests.

EPA REGISTRATION. Only the products that pass the manufacturer’s battery of tests are submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for product registration.

The average length of time is six to seven years from the discovery of a chemical compound to its submission to the EPA for registration. If the chemical compound passes the registration process, the manufacturer can then take the product to market.

In the end, only one in about 20,000 chemical compounds makes it from the chemist’s laboratory to become an EPA-registered product.