Cotton farmers use pesticides to maximize their yields and therefore, profits, but the risk of using these chemicals is not isolated to just farm workers and their families.
Although pesticides are currently manufactured to break down quickly into its harmless constituents, small levels of pesticides have been found in rivers and streams near cotton farms.
Many pesticides are highly toxic to aquatic life. Water temperature increases the toxicity of pesticides and water temperatures are on the rise due to global warming.
Even if fish are not killed by the pesticides leaked into the water they can exhibit an array of other problems when exposed to small amounts, ranging from “abnormal behavioral and pathological conditions [to] failures in reproduction” (Use and Significance of Pesticides
Paraquat is used worldwide and causes “pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, nosebleeds, loss of appetite, and death” (Fatal Harvest
The effect of long term exposure to small amounts of pesticides on aquatic life has not been determined yet we still allow these chemicals to flow into our waterways.
Scientists are starting to suspect that when pesticides get into the air, an “inevitable part of aerial application” (Fatal Harvest
Honeybees are responsible for pollinating $15 billion worth of American crops, including apples, almonds and blueberries.
Honeybees are extremely sensitive to pesticides.
A study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry showed that minute doses of pesticides affect the ability of honeybees to smell flowers. Chronic exposure to pesticides resulted in honeybee death. Honeybee death could have serious consequences for the United States food supply.
It is not just bees and fish that are exposed to the chemicals used on cotton, frighteningly; pesticides find their way into the worldwide water supply and expose humans as well.
