The Birds and the Bees
Pesticides are a multi-billion dollar industry in North America. It has also been
estimated that the cost of the negative side-effects of pesticides run into
billions of dollars. Some examples are:
- ground water cleanup and monitoring
- loss of livestock and animal food products
- medical costs
Other non-economic costs include:
- killing benevolent insects,
for example, the natural pollinators such as bees
- killing songbirds
- possible side-effects on children and embryos
A secondary problem is that the effectiveness of pesticides tends to decline as
the target "pests" develop resistance through natural selection.
Unfortunately, most research on the effects of pesticides has been funded by
the companies who market them.
In the News
Carbofuran, also known as Furadan in Canada, will be banned in granular form
once farmers use up existing reserves (Pesticides are rarely recalled, unlike other
products found to be unsafe). In this form, it resembles the grit which songbirds
use to aid in digestion. The use of this product has been found to cause an enormous
number of deaths in songbirds. The liquid form will continue to be available while its
status is reviewed.
The Canadian manufacturer of this product, Bayer, also manufactures health
products such as Aspirin.
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