Environmental risk of chemical agriculture - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 100

Table 4.2 Possible harmful consequences of the application of pesticides.

Pesticides

Effects Fungicides Herbicides Zoocides

Direct Non-target microfungi Non-target plants Non-target insects

Occupational health effects Occupational health effects Neurotoxic effects on animals

Occupational health effects

Indirect Mutagenicity Soil contamination Soil contamination

Reprotoxicity Surface water contamination Surface water contamination

Endocrine disruption Groundwater contamination Groundwater contamination

Immune disruption Mutagenicity Mutagenicity

Reprotoxicity Reprotoxicity

Endocrine disruption Endocrine disruption

Immune disruption Immune disruption

(Waters et al., 2000) listing the effects of approximately 700 substances in 30 chemical
classes on the basis of over 8,000 references from the open literature. The database
plots the profile of each compound, giving their adverse effects on different organisms
in phylogenetic order: non-mammalian tests: prokaryotes, lower eukaryotes, plants
and insects, as well as in vitro and in vivo mammalian tests. In a limited number of
cases not only mutagenicity, but also carcinogenic activity has been reported (e.g.,
dichlorvos, chlorothalonil) by IARC. Severe types of detrimental side effects include
reprotoxicity, endocrine disrupting (Keith, 1997; Anonymous, 2000) and immune-
system disrupting effects (Repetto & Baliga, 1996) of the pesticide-active ingredients
and their residues.
As for ecological consequences of pesticide usage, the majority of pesticide-active
ingredients have significant negative effects on ecosystem components such as para-
sitoids and predators (Darvas & Polgár, 1998). In addition, not only active ingredients,
but other pesticide constituents assumed to be biologically inert, such as detergents,
adjuvants, formulating agents, may exert adverse biological effects. Such was the
case of the polyethoxylated fatty acids applied as adjuvants in the formulation of the
world leading herbicide active ingredient glyphosate, showing strong synergy in their
endocrine disrupting and cytotoxic effect, in which toxicity of the adjuvant vastly
exceed that of the active ingredient (Székács & Darvas, 2012; Németh & Székács,
2012). To redress such anomalies, as of June 14, 2011, activity enhancers (adjuvants)
and safeners (antidotes) are also subject to the same regulations as pesticide-active
ingredients (Pesticide Law, 2009).

4 OUTPUT INTENSITY OF AGROCHEMICALS

Industrially developed countries tend to rely on industrialized agriculture. This results
in intensive utilization of arable lands and use of agrochemicals. Indeed, countries
with higher gross domestic product (GDP) rates and greater population density apply