By: Chumba Koech
Abstract
The rapid advancement of technology and agriculture practices in the United States has shaped the landscape of the country. In an attempt to increase production yields, the development of pesticides led to its nation-wide use. While increasing production yields, little was known about pesticides adverse effects on human health. The primary objective of this paper is to examine the role of pesticides in agriculture and their effect on obesity and type 2 diabetes. This paper presents evidence that pesticides are detrimental to human health because pesticides disrupt metabolic homeostasis, predisposing individuals to gain weight. From this information, it can be concluded that the usage of pesticides in the United States needs to be reduced. In examining the detrimental effects of pesticides, alternative solutions have been proposed. Permaculture, a human and environment friendly model, presents practices that eliminate the need for the pesticides used in our country. In conclusion, pesticides have been proven to harm our bodies’ metabolic homeostasis. This has led to the proposal for alternative practices in commercial farming.
Introduction
From farm to table, the practices of the agriculture industry shape what we consume. To meet the demands of consumer needs, farm technology improved drastically, increasing the yields to unprecedented numbers. A promising innovation in an effort to increase production was the creation of agro pesticides. Today these pesticides are used in massive quantities. In 2012, the United States accounted for 18% of the total world pesticide expenditures. In total these expenditures accounted to $9 billion US dollars. [1]
Pesticides remain in the environment for several years. It has been well established that certain pesticides are bad for the people and the environment they are used in. Recently, the susceptibility to certain diseases caused by an individual’s environment has been under investigation. Besides diet and exercise, increasing evidence has shown that the environment an individual is immersed in, impacts their health. More specifically, the concepts of obesogens is being investigated. Obesogens are chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system whose role is in the production of hormones. By disrupting the endocrine system which regulates our metabolic processes, these obesogens increase susceptibility to weight gain.[2]
Pesticides have a variety of effects on the endocrine system, some: affecting the number of fat cells, size of fat cells, or disrupting hormones involved in appetite, food preferences, and energy metabolism.[3] This has led researchers to examine the relationship between pesticides, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Pesticides and their by-products are obesogens: increasing individual’s sensitivity to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic disorders, which calls for systematic changes in pesticide usage and regulation. First, I will define pesticides as obesogens, and then I will give examples of obesogenic-like pesticides. Then in conclusion, I will present solutions regarding the United States usage of pesticides.
Pesticides
Pesticides are defined as, “Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest.”[4] As a society, pests have been defined by their ability to endanger food supply, health or comfort. [5] Pesticides range in a variety of compounds including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, mollusicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators and others.[6]
The creation of modern agro pesticides originated in 1939. The key event that inspired today’s pesticides stems from chemist Paul Müller, who developed DDT(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). This insecticide became the first selective pesticide.[7] DDT was praised for its ability to protect crops by killing the Colorado potato beetle that was reducing the United States food supply.[8] More food was being produced which kept farmers happy, and food became cheaper for consumers. Its usage unfortunately, led to bird, fish, and honeybee toxicity and bioaccumulation through food webs.[9] This led to its ban in 1972 by the Environmental Protection Agency.[10] Besides DDT’s negative impact on the environment, it has also been shown to be toxic to humans.
Pesticides have a tendency of having unintended consequences. Pesticides pose other problems to our environment: they can contaminate soil, water, land, and the animals that inhabit them. The ultimate goal of pesticides is to protect crops by shielding them from any defined pest. Unfortunately, not enough is known about the potential consequences of the hundreds of pesticides currently used in the United States today.
Certain pesticides have been defined as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to their ability to persist in the environment.[11] Common examples include dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides. Similar to how DDT was found to accumulate in the tissues of animals, so are the pesticides we use today. POPs are able to pass through phospholipid membranes in human cells, which allows them to accumulate in human fat tissues.[12] This is dangerous because in the human body, fat tissue acts as an endocrine organ. The presence of POPs in human fat tissues has been shown to lead to metabolic disease.
DDT
Although the US banned the usage of DDT in 1972, other countries continue to use the insecticide to control malaria and other diseases.[13] DDT is a type of organochloride pesticide. DDT and its metabolite dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) have been associated with breast cancer, diabetes, decreased semen quality, spontaneous abortion, and impaired neurodevelopment in children. [14] In addition, through systematic review and meta-analysis the hypothesis that organochlorine pesticides increase the risk of type 2 diabetes has been supported. [15] In Mexico, the insecticide was banned in 2000. Specifically, to examine the relationship between DDE and diabetes, Mexican immigrants were studied because the insecticide would still be present due to its half-life in their bodies. Through the collection of blood samples, the concentrations of DDT and DDE were measured. Analysis of the blood samples presented that DDT and DDE are significantly associated with diabetes. This study proved through a population still ruminating through the effects of the insecticide, that there is an association between insecticide exposure and diabetes. This was a good study because Mexican Americans have a high prevalence of diabetes which makes it easier to associate within the population.
Neonicotinoids
Neonicotinoids are a subset class of insecticides widely used around the world. It is a very successful insecticide used on vegetables, grains and turf. Neonicotinoids have a long half-life, similar to DDT which led to the question of its exposure to humans. Several studies have suggested a link between this persistent organic pollutant and obesity. Imidaclorprid a type of neonicotinoid, was studied in regard to its properties as an obesogen. In this study mice exposed to imidaclorprid and on a high-fat diet showed a higher increased body weight and elevated serum levels more so than mice on a low-fat diet who were also exposed to imidaclorprid.[16] This study suggests that alone imidaclorprid does not induce weight gain as significantly as it does when coupled with a high-fat diet. This supports the idea that obesity is a combination of factors: genetic, environmental, and lifestyle choices.
Organophosphate Pesticides
Organophosphate insecticides are another class of insecticides, which like organochlorides are considered highly toxic. These can be found at high concentration in blueberries, strawberries, and celery.[17] Previously organophosphate insecticides had been associated with neuropsychological conditions, but researches began to look at its effect on the endocrine system. Presented through a rat model, researchers found that rats exposed to low levels of chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate insecticide), had weight gain reported in comparison to their controls.[18]
DDT, neonicotinoids, and organochloride pesticides are all examples of pesticides that behave as obesogens. Their ability to accumulate in human fat tissue enables a disruption in the endocrine system, increasing sensitivity to metabolic disorders. Pesticides like the ones above have been used throughout the United States. There are no groups spared from their effects, and the farmers in close contact with them are at high risk. Metabolic disorders like obesity and type 2 diabetes are both world-wide concerns. Currently 1/3 of US adults are obese, and more than 100 million US adults are living with diabetes or prediabetes.[19] While defining pesticides as obesogens does not solve the overall problem of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States, it is important for understanding the etiology of these diseases. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are both complex diseases. Understanding the gene environment interaction occurring can present more ideas towards prevention and treatment.
Alternative to Pesticides: Permaculture
While pesticides effectively do their purpose, it is not without cost. It is estimated that less than 0.1% of pesticides used, reach their intended target, and instead they reach the environment around them causing damage. [20] From the increasing data supporting that pesticides are detrimental, increasing support is coming forward that pesticide usage should be minimized to the smallest amount possible and efforts should go towards implementation of pesticide free farming.[21]
Proponents of permaculture, emphasis the need for no pesticides. Permaculture is defined as, “an agricultural system or method that seeks to integrate human activity with natural surroundings so as to create highly efficient self-sustaining ecosystems.”[22] Many of permaculture’s theories can be traced back to Masanobu Fukuoka’s book, The One-Straw Revolution. Mr. Fukuoka, through years of experience developed agriculture techniques that diminished the need for modern day technologies. His methods which he coins as “do -nothing” farming, eliminates the usage of pesticides, fertilizers, and tilling. His four principles are: no cultivation, no chemical fertilizers or prepared compost, no weeding, and no dependence on chemicals.[23] Mr. Fukuoka stresses that the use of pesticide is short-term management, not long-term. Mr. Fukuoka states, “Using agricultural chemicals is the most inept way to deal with problems such as these, and will only lead to greater problems in the future.” [24] Instead, he curates a natural environment that will solve pest problems by itself.
The key to permaculture is cultivating a soil environment that promotes the essential microbial and micro-faunal balance to increase plant productivity and decrease the presence of pathogenic organisms. [25] This requires very intentional planning that incorporates appropriate combinations of mixed trees, crop plants, and vegetation.[26]
While permaculture is not the only alternative option to decreasing pesticide use, it is the one that places the environment at its highest priority. Permaculture is one of the few practices that disregards the need of pesticides completely. Although small scale examples of permaculture can be found around the US, there has not been an implementation on a large scale. In order to effectively implement permaculture practices, extensive time and knowledge about the environment in use needs to be known. This makes it harder for the large-scale agriculture business to accept because it involves not only stripping many of the technology advancements made within the last 100 years, but also significant time to effectively plan.
Stricter Regulations Regarding Pesticide Use
All pesticides today are tested and approved for by the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). Recently, under the current administration, pesticide regulation has become sparse. In 2017, Mr. Pruitt, the current E.P.A chief, reversed a ban on chlorpyrifos.[27] Besides its obesogenic effects, the pesticide has proven to decrease health issues with learning and memory decline.[28] As stated earlier, chlorpyrifos have been proven to disrupt metabolic function. His supporters stem from groups that would benefit, namely pesticide and food companies. This shows how pesticide and food companies with their monetary influence are keeping loose regulations in place. Pesticide regulation needs to be science based, not aware to the financial benefits some may receive. The only way to prioritize the health of all is to focus only on what the science tells us.
It is pertinent that we focus our energy on increasing regulation for the pesticides incorporated into our foods. While it would be ideal to implement more permaculture practices in our agriculture system, I think we need to focus on implementing stricter regulations. Although I personally think it is admitting defeat to not fight pesticide use, it may be more pragmatic to keep the current practices in place but implement stricter regulations that the E.P.A enforces.
Type 2 diabetes and obesity are world-wide problems and increasing individual’s susceptibility to these diseases is dangerous. Because of the burden of type 2 diabetes and obesity, awareness to these obesogens should be given, especially because no one is sheltered from their exposure. In order to reduce susceptibility to these diseases, pesticides that are already known to act as obesogens need to be removed. In addition, more research needs to be done to ensure new products do not have any potential negative health effects for all animals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, certain pesticides are obesogens, which have been proven to disrupt metabolic processes. DDT, neonicotinoids, and organophosphate pesticides are examples of obesogens that are increasing sensitivity to type 2 diabetes and obesity. Because of increasing amount of scientific support for this theory, modification of current pesticide regulations needs to occur. Pesticide usage effects everyone, which is why effective policy implementations need to occur.
References
Aktar, Wasim, Dwaipayan Sengupta, and Ashim Chowdhury. “Impact of Pesticides Use in Agriculture: Their Benefits and Hazards.” Interdisciplinary Toxicology2, no. 1 (2009): 1-12. doi:10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7.
“CDC Newsroom.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 18, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-report.html.
NPIC. “DDT(General Fact Sheet).” National Pesticide Information Center. December 1999. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf.
Everett, Charles. “Exposure to DDT and Diabetic Nephropathy among Mexican Americans in the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics. January 05, 2017. Accessed May 2, 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749116313525?via=ihub.
“Exposure to Pesticides and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics. February 22, 2016. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412016300496?via=ihub.
Fukoaka, Masanobu. The One-straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming. Place of Publication Not Identified: Other India P., 1992.
Lipton, Eric. “E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide.” The New York Times. March 30, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/epa-insecticide-chlorpyrifos.html.
Meggs, William J. and Kori L. Brewer. “Weight Gain Associated with Chronic Exposure to Chlorpyrifos in Rats.” Journal of Medical Toxicology 3, no. 3 (09, 2007): 89-93. https://login.proxy.lib.duke.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/docview/196345501?accountid=10598.
NIH. “Obesogens.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. May 2, 2018. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/obesity/obesogens/index.cfm.
“Permaculture.” Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permaculture.
“Pesticides.” World Health Organization. September 12, 2017. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://www.who.int/topics/pesticides/en/.
Pimentel, David. “David Pimentel, Amounts of Pesticides Reaching Target Pests: Environmental Impacts and Ethics – PhilPapers.” Steve Clarke, Conspiracy Theories and the Internet: Controlled Demolition and Arrested Development – PhilPapers. January 01, 1995. Accessed May 03, 2018. https://philpapers.org/rec/PIMAOP.
Ruzzin, Jérôme. “Public Health Concern behind the Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Risk of Metabolic Diseases.” Advances in Pediatrics. April 2012. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408385/.
Simmons, Amber L., Jennifer J. Schlezinger, and Barbara E. Corkey. “What Are We Putting in Our Food That Is Making Us Fat? Food Additives, Contaminants, and Other Putative Contributors to Obesity.” Advances in Pediatrics. June 01, 2014. Accessed May 4, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4101898/.
Stotland, Naomi E., and Janet C. King. “Maternal Weight Gain During Pregnancy and Obesity in the Offspring.” Obesity Before Birth Endocrine Updates, 2010, 205-14. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7034-3_10.
Sun, Quancai, Weipeng Qi, Xiao Xiao, Szu-Hao Yang, Daeyoung Kim, Kyong Sup Yoon, John M. Clark, and Yeonhwa Park. “Imidacloprid Promotes High Fat Diet-Induced Adiposity in Female C57BL/6J Mice and Enhances Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes via the AMPKα-Mediated Pathway.” Advances in Pediatrics. August 09, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5576855/.
Taylor, Eric. “Pesticide Development a Brief Look at the History.” Pesticide Development. March 2007. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjP9Ofxou7aAhWGuFMKHU8yAQUQFggpMAA&url=https://sref.info/resources/publications/pesticide-development—a-brief-look-at-the-history/at_download/file&usg=AOvVaw3HPimFCI_bQM5tug2pALyB.
Ware, George W., and David M. Whitacre. The Pesticide Book. Willoughby, OH: Meister Media Worldwide, 2004.
“What Is a Pesticide?” EPA. April 02, 2018. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/minimum-risk-pesticides/what-pesticide.
“Why Do Permaculture Systems Require Very Low Inputs of Pesticides, Fertilizer and Water?” Ecosystem Restoration at Project Wadi Attir. 2015. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://www.sustainabilitylabs.org/ecosystem-restoration/learning-modules/why-do-permaculture-systems-require-very-low-inputs-of-pesticides-fertilizer-and-water/.
[1] “What Is a Pesticide?” EPA. April 02, 2018. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/minimum-risk-pesticides/what-pesticide.
[2] NIH. “Obesogens.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. May 2, 2018. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/obesity/obesogens/index.cfm.
[3] Lustig RH, ed. New York, NY:Springer: 2010. Obesity before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring.
[4] “What Is a Pesticide?” EPA. April 02, 2018. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/minimum-risk-pesticides/what-pesticide
[5] Taylor, Eric. “Pesticide Development a Brief Look at the History.” Pesticide Development. March 2007. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjP9Ofxou7aAhWGuFMKHU8yAQUQFggpMAA&url=https://sref.info/resources/publications/pesticide-development—a-brief-look-at-the-history/at_download/file&usg=AOvVaw3HPimFCI_bQM5tug2pALyB.
[6] Aktar, Wasim, Dwaipayan Sengupta, and Ashim Chowdhury. “Impact of Pesticides Use in Agriculture: Their Benefits and Hazards.” Interdisciplinary Toxicology 2, no. 1 (2009): 1-12. doi:10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7.
[7] Taylor, Pesticide Development a Brief Look in the History, 3-4.
[8] Ibid., 3-4.
[9] Ware, George W., and David M. Whitacre. The Pesticide Book. Willoughby, OH: Meister Media Worldwide, 2004.
[10] NPIC. “DDT (General Fact Sheet).” National Pesticide Information Center. December 1999. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf.
[11] Ruzzin, Jérôme. “Public Health Concern behind the Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Risk of Metabolic Diseases.” Advances in Pediatrics. April 2012. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408385/.
[12] Ibid, Background.
[13] NPIC, General Fact Sheet,1.
[14] Everett, Charles. “Exposure to DDT and Diabetic Nephropathy among Mexican Americans in the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics. January 05, 2017. Accessed May 2, 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749116313525?via=ihub.
[15] “Exposure to Pesticides and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics. February 22, 2016. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412016300496?via=ihub.
[16] Sun, Quancai, Weipeng Qi, Xiao Xiao, Szu-Hao Yang, Daeyoung Kim, Kyong Sup Yoon, John M. Clark, and Yeonhwa Park. “Imidacloprid Promotes High Fat Diet-Induced Adiposity in Female C57BL/6J Mice and Enhances Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes via the AMPKα-Mediated Pathway.” Advances in Pediatrics. August 09, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5576855/.
[17] Simmons, Amber L., Jennifer J. Schlezinger, and Barbara E. Corkey. “What Are We Putting in Our Food That Is Making Us Fat? Food Additives, Contaminants, and Other Putative Contributors to Obesity.” Advances in Pediatrics. June 01, 2014. Accessed May 4, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4101898/.
[18] Meggs, William J. and Kori L. Brewer. “Weight Gain Associated with Chronic Exposure to Chlorpyrifos in Rats.” Journal of Medical Toxicology 3, no. 3 (09, 2007): 89-93. https://login.proxy.lib.duke.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/docview/196345501?accountid=10598.
[19] “CDC Newsroom.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 18, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-report.html.
[20] Pimentel, David. “David Pimentel, Amounts of Pesticides Reaching Target Pests: Environmental Impacts and Ethics – PhilPapers.” Steve Clarke, Conspiracy Theories and the Internet: Controlled Demolition and Arrested Development – PhilPapers. January 01, 1995. Accessed May 03, 2018. https://philpapers.org/rec/PIMAOP.
[21] “Pesticides.” World Health Organization. September 12, 2017. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://www.who.int/topics/pesticides/en/.
[22] “Permaculture.” Merriam-Webster. Accessed May 3, 2018. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permaculture.
[23] Fukoaka, Masanobu. The One-straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming. Place of Publication Not Identified: Other India P., 1992.
[24] Ibid,40
[25] “Why Do Permaculture Systems Require Very Low Inputs of Pesticides, Fertilizer and Water?” Ecosystem Restoration at Project Wadi Attir. 2015. Accessed May 3, 2018. http://www.sustainabilitylabs.org/ecosystem-restoration/learning-modules/why-do-permaculture-systems-require-very-low-inputs-of-pesticides-fertilizer-and-water/.
[26] Ibid,2
[27] Lipton, Eric. “E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide.” The New York Times. March 30, 2017. Accessed May 05, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/epa-insecticide-chlorpyrifos.html.
[28] Ibid,2.
