PEST CONTROL

By: Anthony Falotico

Biological Pests: Organisms that reduce the availability, quality, or value of resources useful to humans

Ex: Plants, animals, fungi, microbes

What is a pest?

Pesticide: a chemical that kills pestsBiocide: a broad spectrum pesticide that kills a wide range of

living organismsHerbicides: kill plantsInsecticides: kill bugsFungicides: kill fungi

Acaricides: kill mites, ticks, and spidersNematicides: kill nematodes

Rodenticides: kill rodentsAvicides: kill birds

How Do We Get Rid of Pests?

Sumerians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans

Ancient Pesticides

Modern Pesticides

DDT

Problems With Pesticides

-Killing non-target species

- Pesticide resistance

- Pest Resurgence

- Pesticide treadmill

Types of Pesticides

- Inorganic Pesticides

- Natural Organic Pesticides

- Fumigants

- Chlorinated Hydrocarbons

- Organophosphates

- Carbamates

- Microbial Agents/ Biological Controls

- Persistent Organic Pollutants

How Many Pounds of Pesticide?

-Chlorine/ Hypochlorites

- Conventional Pesticides

- Wood Preservatives

- Specialty Biocides

-Other

Pesticide Movement

- Highly Persistent

- Mobile

- Bioaccumulation

- Bioconcentration

Alternatives

- Behavioral Changes

- Useful Organisms

- Genetic and Bioengineering

Integrated Pest Management

- A flexible, ecologically based pest control strategy that is applied at specific times, and is aimed at specific crops and pests

- Mechanical Cultivation

- Minimum chemical pest controls

- Trap crops

- Still some risks

Genetic Breeding and Biotechnology

- Pest resistant crops and livestock

- Using pests methods of resistance against them

Controversy

-Dangerous chemicals

- Good for business

Organic Foods

- USDA definition

- Food grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, under conditions that treat animals humanely and avoid the use of

antibiotics and growth hormones

How to Avoid Pesticides

- Use common sense

- Wash your food

- Eat organic foods

Vocabulary

Biological Pests: Organisms that can reduce the availability, quality, or value of resources useful to humans.Pesticide: a chemical that kills, controls, drives away, or modifies the behavior of pests.Biocide: a broad-spectrum pesticide that kills a wide range of living organisms.Herbicides: kill plants.Insecticides: kill insects.Fungicides: kill fungi.Acaricides: kill mites, ticks, and spidersNematicides: Kill nematodesRodenticides: kill rodentsAvicides: kill birdsInorganic Pesticides: compounds of arsenic, sulfur, copper, lead, and mercury.

Natural Organic Pesticides/Botanicals: generally extracted from plants. Ex: nicotine, rotenone, pyrethrum.Fumigants: generally small molecules such as carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide, ethylene dibromide, methylene bromide, and dibromochloropropane, which gasify easily and penetrate into a variety of materials.Chlorinated hydrocarbons/ Organochlorides: synthetic organic insecticides that inhibit nerve membrane ion transport and block nerve signal transmissions. Ex: DDT, chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin, toxaphene, paradichlorobenzene (mothballs), and lindane.Organophosphates: An outgrowth of nerve gas research during WWII. They generally inhibit cholinesterase, an enzyme key in removing excess neurotransmitter from synapses in the peripheral nervous system. Ex: parathion, malathion, dichlorvos, chlorpyrifos,

dimethyldichlorovinylphosphate (DDVP), and tetraethylpyrophosphate (TEPP)

Carbamates / urethanes: Share many organophosphate properties like mode of action, toxicity, lack of environmental persistence and low bioaccumulation. They are generally very toxic to bees.Microbial Agents/ Biological controls: Living organisms, or toxins derived from them, which are used in place of pesticides. Ex: Ladybugs eat aphids.Persistent Organic Pollutants: Chemical compounds that persist in the environment and retain biological activity for long times.Integrated Pest Management: A flexible, ecologically based pest control strategy that is applied at specific times, and is aimed at specific crops and pests. It often uses mechanical cultivation and techniques such as vacuuming bugs off crops as an alternative to chemical application. Relies on preventative practices and avoids broad-spectrum chemicals.Economic Thresholds: The point at which potential economic damage justifies the amount of money spent on pest control expenditures.

Pesticide Treadmill: A need for constantly increasing doses or for using new pesticides to prevent pest resurgence.Pest Resurgence: Rebound of pest populations because of acquired resistance to chemicals and to nonspecific destruction of natural predators and competitors by broad scale pesticides.

Questions1.What is a pest?2.What are pesticides?3.What are: biocides, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides?4.How many pounds of pesticide are used yearly?5.What is the most common type of pesticide?6.Why are inert ingredients of concern?7.What are: fumigants, botanicals, chlorinated hydrocarbons organophosphates, carbamates, and microbial pesticides?8.What are endocrine disrupters? Why are they so dangerous?9.Why do pests resurge or rebound after treatment with pesticides, and how do they become pesticide resistant?10.What is a pesticide treadmill?

11. What are major categories of alternatives to synthetic pesticides?12. What is IPM, and how is it used?13. Why are children more susceptible to pesticide damage than adults?14. What is being done to protect children?15. What are eight things you can do to reduce your dietary exposure to pesticides?

Dr. Unfried period 4/5 APES Pest Control

Cunningham, William P., Mary Ann Cunningham, and Barbara Woodworth Saigo. Environmental Science a Global Concern. 9th ed. New York: McGraw, 2007. Print.

University of Minnesota. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/ ~allch001/ 1815/ pestcide/ sim/ ddt-long-isl-1945.jpg>.

University of Minnesota. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/ ~allch001/ 1815/ pestcide/ sim/ ddt.jpg>.

Works Cited