Pesticides have been used for many years, on not just crops, but around homes as well. They help get rid of those pesky ants during the summer, and those weeds that keep growing up in the cracks of your driveway. At my home we dust our garden with Sevin to keep the bugs from chewing holes in our cabbage and other produce. But the question that has been around as long as the pesticides themselves have is, “Are they safe?” This is such a large debate among the farming industry. Farmers use pesticides to keep the bugs from destroying their crops they worked so diligently on. Some farmers get hate for using pesticides, as there are people who believe that pesticides are unhealthy for us humans to consume, and that pesticides can cause sickness and deformities if consumed too much. But is this true? EPA.gov states, “EPA is confident that the …show more content…
If not correctly used, pesticides can definitely be harmful. That is why it is important to do research on a specific pesticide before using it. Some are very specific as to where and when they should be used and others have a wider array of choices. www.mass.gov says, “However, many homeowners and consumers are not well informed about pesticides and their uses, therefore the potential for misuse is greater among them. The quality of water resources can become unhealthy as a result of improper, excessive, and unnecessary use of yard chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers.” This is a scary, yet truthful example of what misuse of pesticides can lead to. The potential harms these pesticides can cause are what make many people weary of using them and eating produce that has been sprayed with such pesticides. But as stated in the paragraph above, the EPA helps regulate the use of these pesticides, and ensures that all the crops are healthy enough for human consumption. Farmers wouldn’t want to sell harmful food anyways, it would put them out of business just as badly as using no pesticides