A pesticide is an agent (or combination of agents) that is designed to prevent or destroy pests or to regulate the population of pests (for instance, in plants or animals) as well as prevent and/or eliminate pest damage to any products that are grown from or create, process, store, distribute and market food. There are many types of products that can be considered as pesticides by FAO. Some of the top science colleges in Nashik offer programs in chemistry and other sciences to help students understand pesticides better.
Pesticides may include the active ingredient of the pesticide product (which will cause a plant to grow without leaves, to dry out, or to become spindly); applicants for pesticides are generally applied prior to harvest (to reduce pest damage while the crops are still growing), about the time the crops are harvested (to minimise the amount of pest damage that has occurred to the harvested product), or during the handling and transportation of crops.
Pesticides are used as chemical agents by farmers and agriculturalists to control pests in plants and to obtain larger yields of crops than they would be able to achieve without pesticides, and excessive or improper use of these chemical agents could be detrimental to human health and environmental quality. Farmers use a large amount of pesticides to improve their production of food.
Classification of Pesticides
Types of Pesticides Based on Chemical Composition
- Insecticide
- Fungicide
- Herbicide
- Neonicotinoids
Classification Based on Mode of Entry
- Systematic Pesticides
- Contact Pesticides
- Stomach pesticide
- Fumigants
- Repellents
Classification Based on Target Pest Organism
- Acaricides
- Fungicides
- Herbicides
- Insecticides
- Plant growth regulators
Classification Based on Mode of Action
- Physical poison
- Protoplasmic poison
- Respiratory poison
- Nerve Poison
- Chitin Inhibition
Impact of Pesticides on Human Beings
The acute damages of pesticides include skin, mouth, eyes, respiratory system, rashes, headaches, irritability, vomiting, and sneezing.
Over time, however, eating fruits and vegetables grown on pesticides-contaminated soil and water accumulate poisons in body organs and lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, necrosis, asthma, and reproductive and cardio diseases.
In this way it is able to impact Land, Atmosphere, Ecosystem which could be one of the Environmental Effects.
Analysis of Pesticide Residue
Analysis can be done by Spectroscopic and Chromatographic Techniques such as FTIR, GC, HPLC, as well as Particle Size Analyser, Differentiating Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and XRD.
FSSAI recommends using validated analytical methodologies utilising highly equipped analytical instrumentation i.e. GC with Electron Capture Detector or GC-MS and LC-MS to determine pesticide residues.
Conclusion
Specific agrochemical compounds can be used as an important part of the evidence in cases with regard to environmental contamination, whether intentional or unintentional through a poisoning, for potential violations of agricultural safety regulations for use of pesticides (and all non-agricultural) and for possible illegal use of pesticides.
Other applications include use as evidence for illegal pesticide use, determination of (MRLs) and for determination of agricultural malpractice/food fraud through adulteration through use as a source of evidence supporting the determination of illegal pesticide use and/or in the production of food, protection of public health, and/or in terms of evidence for the case. Some of the best science colleges in Maharashtra are conducting path-breaking research in the field of pesticide for agricultural and other uses.
In conclusion, the forensic significance utilises methods developed in the past related to development of forensic evidence as it applies to both criminal investigations and regulatory enforcement of laws to protect public safety, where reliable and accurate forensic detection of pesticide residues provides evidence used to determine the overall outcome of litigation, or in criminal or civil prosecution, is therefore a crucial element of forensic science.