« BACK TO FORUM
 Author |
 Post
|
 |
|
Mel Visser
Joined: Oct 16, 2007
Posts: 1 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male & 74
Country: United States
Province/State: Michigan
City: Portage
|
Pesticides Pollute High Arctic
October 16, 2007 - 10:40 AM
|
|
Most people are aware of the problems of polar bear in areas where their ice is melting, but few realize that their cousins to the north suffer from decreased lifespan and fertility due to the accumulation of PCBs and pesticides such as Lindane, toxaphene and chlordane. Inuit living in Greenland and the Canadian High Arctic consume 15 times what scientists call a tolerable daily intake of these toxics. There is global agreement that these chemicals should be banned, but many countries cannot afford the time or expense to substitute modern pesticides. Now, scientists are finding that killer whale populations that winter off western North America and feed in the Arctic in the summer are returning without mature males. They accumulate pesticides that travel to the Arctic from northern hemispheric uses, their immune system is destroyed and they die of simple infections. These chemicals must be totally banned.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Hayk
Joined: Dec 20, 2005
Posts: 963 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Blabbermouth
User is
Offline
 Virtual Volunteer
Country: Egypt
Province/State: Al Qahirah
City: Al Qahirah
|
Re: Pesticides Pollute High Arctic
October 31, 2007 - 06:20 AM
|
|
Check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Environmental_effects
Use of pesticides can have unintended effects on the environment. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including nontarget species, air, water, bottom sediments, and food.[2] Pesticide contaminates land and water when it escapes from production sites and storage tanks, when it runs off from fields, when it is discarded, when it is sprayed aerially, and when it is sprayed into water to kill algae.[16] The amount of pesticide that migrates from the intended application area is influenced by the particular chemical's properties: its propensity for binding to soil, its vapor pressure, its water solubility, and its resistance to being broken down over time.[6] Factors in the soil, such as its texture, its ability to retain water, and the amount of organic matter contained in it, also affect the amount of pesticide that will leave the area.[6]
Some pesticides contribute to global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer.
...
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
|
Display posts from:
|
|
Home
Community
