Some Views on Current Concerns About Pesticides

There is little doubt that the introduction of modern pesticides since the end of the Second World War has enabled a significant increase in the production of many crops during the green revolution, but criticism of the use of pesticides has increased because more people are claiming that their use has resulted in unacceptable adverse impacts on the health of those applying the pesticides or who live near treated farms, as well as more general impacts on the environment. When these modern pesticides were first introduced, countries established registration requirements. These were based on scientific data at that time concerning their toxicity and persistence in the environment, and have been followed to a variable degree, depending on whether individual countries or regions had adequate facilities to assess the data presented by manufacturers.