Pesticides, Herbicides & Fungicides
Different kinds of pesticides are used to get rid of pests and garden weeds. Many common household pesticides are powerful chemicals and may affect your health and the environment. Does this Spark an idea?
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Pesticides
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A pesticide is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as any substance or mixture of substances that's used to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pest. The term also applies to other substances used to control pests, including herbicides and fungicides.
Herbicides and Fungicides
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Herbicide is a substance used to control or eliminate different kinds of weed or grass. Fungicide is used to kill or inhibit the growth of fungi on plants.
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Applications
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Pesticides are used not only in large crops but in gardens as well. Most pesticides, including herbicides and fungicides, are applied as sprays or dusts.
Pesticides in Household Products
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Pesticides include household products such as cockroach sprays and baits, insect repellents, rat and other rodent poisons, flea and tick sprays and powders, household disinfectants and sanitizers and some swimming pool chemicals.
Risks of Pesticides
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The use of pesticides is beneficial because they kill disease-causing organisms and control insects, weeds and other pests. However, pesticides are also harmful to humans, animals and the environment because they affect the air, waterways and some of the food that we eat.
Alternatives to Pesticides
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Alternatives to pesticides include handpicking weeds and pests and using barriers, traps and beneficial insects such as ladybugs, bees and dragonflies. Other alternatives are companion planting, crop rotation, diversified planting and using low toxicity pesticides.
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References
Resources
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