|
||
|
PESTICIDES: IS THE THREAT REAL
OR VIRTUAL?
B.A.Kurliandsky, Professor,
The problem of health and environmental impacts of toxic pesticides belongs to the range of the highest priority global problems of health and environment. The problem is associated with the fact, that pesticides belong to the group of biologically active compounds - from the one hand, they allow us to get higher crop yields, but from the other hand, they are hazardous for human health. Developments of the recent years resulted in a situation, when adverse impacts of pesticides are now of some relevance for all residents of the Russian Federation. Pesticides-related problems in the country are of global nature. Now, up to 600 brands of pesticides are permitted for use at the territory of Russia (the major share of these chemicals are imported). At the same time, in the recent decade, absolute figures of pesticide application in Russia substantially decreased (as a result, pesticide loads on cultivated land areas reduced). The system of state supervision over production and use of pesticides in Russia allowed to ban, at the early stage, application of such persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordan, DDT and its derivatives, heptachlor, dichloroethane, pentachlorophenol, pentachloronitrobenzene, poly-chloropynen, and preparations of 2,4,5-Ò. Due to comparative efficiency of the system of the state sanitary control over introduction of new pesticides, marketing of highly toxic pesticides is now unlikely (if we do not account for cases of violation of the state sanitary legislation). The highest risks are associated now with storage of stockpiles of obsolete pesticides, which may contain highly toxic and persistent compounds. Uncontrolled application of pesticides in the past resulted in accumulation of obsolete and banned chemicals. In the majority of cases, these pesticides are stored in inadequate storage facilities or even simply under the Sun. As a result of uncontrolled use and migration of pesticides, these chemicals contaminate environmental media and enter food chains, water and air. Some cases were registered, when pesticides accumulated in vegetables, fruits and grain in excess of permitted levels in dozens of times. All these facts necessitate urgent public actions, that should substantially contribute into improvement of situation in the sphere of pesticides' application and storage:
|