As a result of high exposure to pesticides, children residing in agricultural regions are prone to contamination to a great extent. Children have a curiosity to explore their surroundings and during such actions, they come into direct contact with surfaces that have a maximum probability of being contaminated. The danger of contamination is greater for infants who tend to take things into their mouths. Excessive exposure of parents to pesticides can be the cause of severe health hazards among their children. such children face a greater risk of being infected with diseases such as ‘brain tumor’, ‘leukemias’, and some kinds of cancer (Eskenazi, Bradman & Castorina 1999).
Different chemicals present in pesticides have a different impact on the health of people living on farms. The level of impact of any particular chemical depends greatly on the exposure time to such chemical. One of the poignant impacts of pesticides is ‘spontaneous abortion’. The effects of pre-conception and post-conception exposure to pesticides differ in the level of risk being faced by pregnant women. The following two charts depict such differences:
From the above tables, it is evident that the pre-conception exposure to pesticides has greater risks as compared to the post-conception one. It is also understood that pre-conception exposure to pesticides results in early spontaneous abortion while such abortion is delayed in cases where the exposure is post-conception (Arbuckle, Lin & Mery 2001).
The farmworkers who are exposed to pesticides are at greater risk of getting infected with various diseases such as headache, vomiting and vomiting sensation, giddiness, stomach ache, skin itching, and eye irritation. Some studies even suggest that exposure to pesticides can result in various psychological and nervous system problems such as Parkinson’s disease. Direct exposure to some of the pesticides (for people working in the farms) hurts the reproductive system as well. Even though such pesticides have been banned in the United States, the newly born children of people working in farms still face the risk of several diseases that develop during fetal development (McCauley, Anger & Rohlman 2006).
The effects of inhaling pesticides and their coming in contact with the skin and eyes are also very severe. It is very important for the farm workers to wear protective eyeglasses while working on the farms because unprotected eyes can be prone to ‘ocular toxicity. Continuous exposure of eyes to pesticides can result in imperfect vision and other eye hazards such as conjunctivitis. Such hazards are contagious and can also affect the families of people who work on farms (Jaga & Dharmani 2006).
Air pollution: Acid Rain
The severe impacts of acid rain have become a problem of global concern. Acid rain has a great impact on the water bodies and the characteristics of soil as a result of which there has been a significant decline in the forest areas. Due to the acidic effect of soil, the vegetation is also gets affected. Due to acid deposition on the vegetation, the plant-insect relation becomes vulnerable. Acid rains that have a pH of less than 3.0 act as a hindrance to the development of plants as well as the parasites (Wang, Zhang & Zhao 2006).
The chemical reaction during acid rain signifies a mutual action between the atmospheric gases and the water. During such an interaction, ‘aerosol particles’ are formed. For example, HONO particles are derived from the interaction of nitrogen oxide (atmospheric gas) and seawater. Since clouds also have water content, such an interaction can take place in the clouds as well. Almost 80% of the Sulfur dioxide present in the clouds is converted into Sulfuric acid. This Sulfuric acid when comes down to earth is termed acid rain (Volkov & Ranatunga 2008).
Such sulfur and nitrogen contents of acid rain can have a long-term effect on the physical condition of people. The occurrence of acid rain in London and Pennsylvania are examples of the devastation that acid rain can cause. Several people, especially those who had cardiovascular diseases, experienced severe health implications of acid rain. It has been studied that the SO2 present in the atmosphere (as a result of acid rain) was converted to H2SO4 by the time people inhaled the air. There is not much data pertaining to the effects of NOx on human health but whatever information is available suggests that the effect is not severe (Goyar et al. 1985).
Rising industrial processes throughout the world have contributed toward the increased possibilities and incidents of acid rain. Reports suggest that acid rain augments the ‘solubility’ of ‘radionuclides’ in the soil. Such dissolved radionuclides are sucked by the plants, hence affecting the overall vegetation. Moreover, in such circumstances, the drinking water also gets contaminated. It is estimated that a decline of one point in the acid contents of the soil can increase the chances of radionuclides being sucked by plants up to 7 times (Sheppard & Sheppard 1988).
References
Arbuckle, T E, Lin, Z & Mery, L S 2001, ‘An exploratory analysis of the effect of pesticide exposure on the risk of spontaneous abortion in an Ontario farm population’, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 109. no. 8, pp. 851-857, Web.
Eskenazi, B, Bradman, A & Castorina, R 1999, ‘Exposure of children to organophosphate pesticides and their potential adverse health effects’, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 107. no. 3, pp. 409-419, Web.
Goyar, R A, Bachmann, J, Clarkson, T W, Ferris, B G, Graham, J, Mushak, P, Parl, D P, Rall, D P, Schlesinger, R, Sharpe, W, & Wood, J M 1985, ‘Potential human health effects of acid rain: Report of a workshop’, Environment Health Perspectives, vol. 60. no. 1, pp. 355-368, Web.
Jaga, K & Dharmani, C 2006, ‘Ocular toxicity from pesticide exposure: A recent review’, Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, vol. 11. no. 3, pp. 102-107, Web.
McCauley, L A, Anger, W K & Rohlman, D 2006, ‘Studying health outcomes in farmworker populations exposed to pesticides’, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 114. no. 6, pp. 953-960, Web.
Sheppard, S C & Sheppard, M I 1988, ‘Modeling estimates of the effect of acid rain on background radiation dose’, Environment Health Perspectives, vol. 78. no. 1, pp. 197-206, Web.
Volkov, A G & Ranatunga, D R 2008, ‘Plants as environmental biosensors’, Plant Signaling & Behavior, vol. 1. no. 3, pp. 105-115, Web.
Wang, J, Zhang, J & Zhao, Z 2006, ‘Influence of long-term exposure to simulated acid rain on development, reproduction and acaricide susceptibility of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus’, Journal of Insect Science, vol. 6. no. 1, pp. 1-13, Web.