2. Content
• What is Pesticide?
• Classification of Pesticides
• Benefits of pesticides
• Hazards of pesticides
• The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Pesticides in our midst
• Ideal Pesticides
3. What is Pesticide?
Any substance or mixture of substances, intended for
preventing, destroying, or mitigating any pest, or intended for
use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant or desiccant.
4. Classification of Pesticides
• Insecticides:- An insecticide is a substance
used to kill insects.
• Herbicides:- A herbicide is a chemical
substance used to control or
manipulate undesirable vegetation,
especially weeds.
5. Classification of Pesticides
• Fungicides:- Fungicide is biocidal chemical compounds or biological
organisms used to kill fungi or
fungal spores.
• Rodenticides:- Rodenticide is used to kill rodents.
Rodents include not only rat and mice, but also squirrels,
woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, and
beavers.
6. Benefits of pesticides
• They are used in public health programs to control vector born
diseases.
• They are used to protect the stored food grains.
• They protect the standing crop in the field. They do not increase the
crop yield like fertilizer but by protecting the crop from pests.
• They can be used to control household pests.
7. Hazards of pesticides
• The pesticide industries cause pollution of soil, water and air. The
pesticidal residue washed along with rain water, is added to the
nearby water resources making it unfit for drinking.
• They enter the food chain and cause problem of bioaccumulation or
bio magnification.
• They are not target specific hence also kills non-pest insects. It
adversely affect the mechanism of entomophily.
8. Hazards of pesticides
• They are non-biodegradable and affect the balance of ecosystem.
• They are highly toxic in nature and if not handled carefully, they can
cause serious health problems like cancer, deformities and disease.
• Accidents in pesticides manufacturing units cause great loss of human
life.
9. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Pesticides in our midst
• The worst industrial disaster in the history of the world is related to
pesticide production. This Occurred at Union Carbide Factory in
Bhopal, India Dec. 3, 1984.
• In this incident, Methyl Isocyanides (MIC) – an ingredient in the
production of the insecticide Carbaryl , escaped into the atmosphere
killing more than 3,000 people within a few hour.
• The insecticide, Carbaryl, itself is a highly toxic chemical and
carcinogen (cancer causing agent) to humans.
10. Ideal Pesticides
• Ideal pesticide will act rapidly on pests, yet be completely harmless to
people, domestic animals, wildlife, and other aspects of the
environment.
• Its residues would only last as long as was necessary to create the
desired effect, usually for very short periods.
• It would also be inexpensive and readily available in necessary
quantities, chemically stable (before application), non-flammable, and
otherwise safe to use around homes or industrial sites.
• It would be easily prepared and applied, non-corrosive and non-
staining, and it would have no undesirable odor.
