What is Pesticide?
Pesticides, as defined by the EPA, are substances that are either being used to directly affect plant growth (positively or negatively) or pests found in and around buildings, on plants, or elsewhere. The first type is primarily used by farmers, growers, and serious gardeners to control when fruits drop, create more branches, regulate water loss, and more much like how hormones can be used on animals to help them grow. The second type is what most think of when the word pesticide is used, however, and this type is what is used in the structural pest control and vector control services most people are familiar with.
When a particular building or group of buildings has a problem with pests (rats, termites, or general insect swarms), pesticides meant for structural pest control will be used. These substances are harmful to the pests, killing or injuring the pests that come in contact with it while making it less likely for more to come into the area afterwards. Once the pests are gone, people and animals in the area can rest easier knowing their chances of getting a disease has gone down as well as injuries from dangerous spiders, wasps, and ants.
In some cases, simply preventing pests from entering an area isn’t enough to keep people safe and vector control methods are called for. Diseases such as the Zika virus and malaria are transmitted through mosquito bites all over the world. To reduce the spread, the World Health Organization and other groups continue to reduce the exposure of people to the contaminated insects with a variety of vector control methods, including biological, practical, and chemical. People in warmer climates may be familiar with how mosquitos are kept under control by removing the pools of stagnate water they use to breed and window screens are a common sight in the southern United States, but careful use of chemicals can help reduce pest populations even further. Chemicals to kill larvae can be sprayed on breeding grounds that can’t be destroyed and traps to kill adults looking for a breeding ground, protecting nearby humans without the need for large amounts of chemicals.
Pests harm more than just humans, however, as some types of pests target crops and gardens. A large-scale infestation can cause a farmer or greenhouse to lose an important crop or kill a beautiful home garden, prompting many people to invest in pesticides and fungicides to prevent such an event from ever happening. These chemicals increase crop yields by preventing the loss of any crops due to a blight, aphid, or beetle and thus help reduce world hunger, keep food prices low, and help keep the farm in business.
Pesticides, the Environment and You
With all the benefits comes some problems. These problems are can be broadly sorted into environmental issues that affect a large area and problems with how these chemicals can affect those who work with them or are living close to where the pesticides have been applied, with both issue types having to deal with the long-term effects of exposure pesticides.
The overall environmental impact of pesticide use is caused by chemical run off from all three of the ways we use these chemicals. When a pesticide is sprayed onto a surface or plant, the liquid usually stays in place right up until rain or irrigation washes it off and carries it into a large body of water or allowing it to seep into the ground, causing more of the pesticide to be applied later to ensure the job is done and sometimes leading to more than necessary being applied in the hope that the correct amount for the job will be there after a rain. Because of this runoff, the pesticide can end up polluting nearby well water or aquifers and poisoning wildlife that may call the nearby waterways home. General use pesticides meant to kill a large variety of pests, fungi, or weeds often end up killing animals and plants outside the intended area, undermining the local ecosystem. Pesticides made to help or hinder a certain type of plant growth under controlled conditions under the watch of a farmer or gardener could pool in far larger quantities around wild plants and cause havoc on the area, too, by preventing a tree from dropping seed pods or making it grow larger than the nutrients available.
On an individual scale, long-term close contact with pesticides can cause serious short- and long-term problems. People who apply the pesticides are in the most contact with the chemicals over any given period of time, but anyone who lives or works in the area can have low levels of exposure as well if they aren’t careful. Side effects from pesticide exposure can range from allergy-like symptoms like skin irritation and headaches to more severe symptoms such as vomiting, confusion, and vision problems, with extremely bad cases needing hospitalization. The long-term effects from exposure can cause kidney damage, liver damage, and other health problems. All these dangers can be reduced by simply taking the needed steps to keep the pesticides from touching your skin and being accidentally ingested by pets and nearby kids, but if the pesticide gets into a nearby source of drinking water, then people may be exposed anyways.
E3Expander: The NanoGreen Solution
As most of the ways people can get hurt involve the pesticides being washed away, E3Expander presents a way to greatly reduce the runoff by preventing the pesticide from getting washed off in the first place. E3Expander’s rainfast formula allows it to be mixed with pesticides, fungicides, and insecticides and help keep them in place. This eliminates the need for re-applications, reduces wasted chemicals due to runoff, and allows a single application to work better for longer. E3Expander’s next generation formula allows it to absorb water into itself to keep chemicals active longer without allowing itself or any of the chemicals to be washed off or shaken loose by a growing or shifting surface.