By: Mohd Sadaq
Pesticides include a broad range of organic micro pollutants that have ecological impacts. Different categories of pesticides have different types of effects on living organisms, therefore generalization is difficult. Although terrestrial impacts by pesticides do occur, the principal pathway that causes ecological impacts is that of water contaminated by pesticide runoff. The two principal mechanisms are Bio- concentration and Bio-magnification.
Bio-concentration is the movement of a chemical from the surrounding medium into an organism. The primary “sink” for some pesticides is fatty tissue (“lipids”). Some pesticides, such as DDT, are “lipophilic”, meaning that they are soluble in, and accumulate in, fatty tissue such as edible fish tissue and human fatty tissue. Other pesticides such as glyphosate are metabolized and excreted.
Bio-magnification describes the increasing concentration of a chemical as food energy is transformed within the food chain. As smaller organisms are eaten by larger organisms, the concentration of pesticides and other chemicals are increasingly magnified in tissue and other organs. Very high concentrations can be observed in top predators, including man.
The ecological effects of pesticides (and other organic contaminants) are varied and are often inter-related. Effects at the organism or ecological level are usually considered to be an early warning indicator of potential human health impacts. The major types of effects are listed below and will vary depending on the organism under investigation and the type of pesticide. Different pesticides have markedly different effects on aquatic life which makes generalization very difficult. The important point is that many of these effects are chronic (not lethal), are often not noticed by casual observers, yet have consequences for the entire food chain including death of the organism, cancers, tumors and lesions on fish and animals. This also causes reproductive inhibition or failure, suppression of immune system, disruption of endocrine (hormonal) system, cellular and DNA damage, teratogenic effects (physical deformities such as hooked beaks on birds), poor fish health marked by low red to white blood cell ratio, excessive slime on fish scales and gills, etc, Intergenerational effects (effects are not apparent until subsequent generations of the organism) and other physiological effects such as egg shell thinning.
These effects are not necessarily caused solely by exposure to pesticides or other organic contaminants, but may be associated with a combination of environmental stresses such as eutrophication and pathogens. These associated stresses need not be large to have a synergistic effect with organic micro pollutants.
Ecological effects of pesticides extend beyond individual organisms and can extend to ecosystems. Some research works indicate that application of pesticides is thought to be one of the most significant factors affecting biodiversity. Jonsson et al. (1990) report that the continued decline of the Swedish partridge population is linked to changes in land use and the use of chemical weed control. Chemical weed control has the effect of reducing habitat, decreasing the number of weed species, and of shifting the balance of species in the plant community. Swedish studies also show the impact of pesticides on soil fertility, including inhibition of nitrification with concomitant reduced uptake of nitrogen by plants. These studies also suggest that pesticides adversely affect soil micro-organisms which are responsible for microbial degradation of plant matter (and of some pesticides), and for soil structure.
In addition to chemical and photochemical reactions, there are two principal biological mechanisms that cause degradation of pesticides. These are.
Microbiological processes in soils and water and Metabolism of pesticides that are ingested by organisms as part of their food supply. While both processes are beneficial in the sense that pesticide toxicity is reduced, metabolic processes do cause adverse effects in, for example, fish. Energy used to metabolize pesticides and other xenobiotics (foreign chemicals) is not available for other body functions and can seriously impair growth and reproduction of the organism.
Many pesticides dissipate rapidly in soils. This process is mineralization and results in the conversion of the pesticide into simpler compounds such H20, C02, and NH3. While some of this process is a result of chemical reactions such as hydrolysis and photolysis, microbiological catabolism and metabolism is usually the major route of mineralization. Soil micro biota utilize the pesticide as a source of carbon or other nutrients. Some chemicals are quite rapidly broken down in soil while others are less easily attacked . Some chemicals are very persistent and are only slowly broken down (atrazine)” (Stephenson and Solomon, 1993).
Metabolism of pesticides in animals is an important mechanism by which organisms protect themselves from the toxic effects of xenobiotics (foreign chemicals) in their food supply. In the organism, the chemical is transformed into a less toxic form and either excreted or stored in the organism. Different organs, especially the liver, may be involved, depending on the chemical. Enzymes play an important role in the metabolic process and the presence of certain enzymes, especially “mixed” function oxygenases (MFOs) in liver, is now used as an indicator that the organism has been exposed to foreign chemicals.
The writer is Student of Bachelor of Science at Government Degree PG College Bhaderwah
