The Impact of Reduced Agricultural Chemical Use on Food PDF Download

Author: Benjamin Senauer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural chemicals
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309048753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues. The committee focuses on four major areas: Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides? Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure? Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age? Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life? This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.

Author: Texas A & M University. College of Agriculture
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fertilizers
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309172942
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Although chemical pesticides safeguard crops and improve farm productivity, they are increasingly feared for their potentially dangerous residues and their effects on ecosystems. The Future Role of Pesticides explores the role of chemical pesticides in the decade ahead and identifies the most promising opportunities for increasing the benefits and reducing the risks of pesticide use. The committee recommends R&D, program, and policy initiatives for federal agriculture authorities and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This book presents clear overviews of key factors in chemical pesticide use, including: Advances in genetic engineering not only of pest-resistant crops but also of pests themselves. Problems in pesticide useâ€"concerns about the health of agricultural workers, the ability of pests to develop resistance, issues of public perception, and more. Impending shifts in agricultureâ€"globalization of the economy, biological "invasions" of organisms, rising sensitivity toward cross-border environmental issues, and other trends. With a model and working examples, this book offers guidance on how to assess various pest control strategies available to today's agriculturist.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030930783X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
How we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on Americans' well-being than any other human activity. The food industry is the largest sector of our economy; food touches everything from our health to the environment, climate change, economic inequality, and the federal budget. From the earliest developments of agriculture, a major goal has been to attain sufficient foods that provide the energy and the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life. Over time, food production, processing, marketing, and consumption have evolved and become highly complex. The challenges of improving the food system in the 21st century will require systemic approaches that take full account of social, economic, ecological, and evolutionary factors. Policy or business interventions involving a segment of the food system often have consequences beyond the original issue the intervention was meant to address. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System develops an analytical framework for assessing effects associated with the ways in which food is grown, processed, distributed, marketed, retailed, and consumed in the United States. The framework will allow users to recognize effects across the full food system, consider all domains and dimensions of effects, account for systems dynamics and complexities, and choose appropriate methods for analysis. This report provides example applications of the framework based on complex questions that are currently under debate: consumption of a healthy and safe diet, food security, animal welfare, and preserving the environment and its resources. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System describes the U.S. food system and provides a brief history of its evolution into the current system. This report identifies some of the real and potential implications of the current system in terms of its health, environmental, and socioeconomic effects along with a sense for the complexities of the system, potential metrics, and some of the data needs that are required to assess the effects. The overview of the food system and the framework described in this report will be an essential resource for decision makers, researchers, and others to examine the possible impacts of alternative policies or agricultural or food processing practices.

Author: Julian Morris
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 0080984908
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Environmental and consumer activists have for a long time blamed pesticides, fertilizers and other aspects of intensive farming for causing environmental degradation and human disease. Yet, as the authors in this book show, intensive farming has enabled growth in food production at a rate greater than population growth, thereby ensuring that people are better fed than ever before, whilst simultaneously limiting the effect of farming on the environment.The authors debunk numerous pervasive myths, including:Myth: Pesticides are bad for the environment and bad for human healthFact: Synthetic pesticides enable the production of large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables, which means that people are better protected against cancer. In addition, the synthetic pesticides themselves are often less toxic than natural pesticides. Overall, synthetic pesticides present a net gain in health terms.Myth: Antibiotic resistance in animals is spreading to humans.Fact: The use of antibiotics in young animals keeps meat prices low and does not materially contribute to antibiotic resistance in humans.Myth: Nitrate fertilizers are a threat to human health.Fact: Nitrate fertilizers are probably beneficial to human health.Myth: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are bad for the environment and bad for our health.Fact: Many environmental problems associated with agriculture can be reduced by using GMOs, which have the potential to improve yields and quality which simultaneously reducing associated inputs, such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Commercially produced GM foodcrops have no known impacts on human health and future GM foodcrops are likely to have health benefits (enabling such things as low-fat chips/french fries and non-allergenic peanuts).Myth: Instances of food poisoning would be reduced if we had more regulations.Fact: Instances of food poisoning in the UK may have been exacerbated by over-cautious government regulation.Myth: Subsidies are needed to order to ensure that food and fish are produced in environmentally sound ways.Fact: Subsidies to fisheries and farming have caused widespread environmental degradation.Myth: Packaging and transporting food is environmentally unfriendly.Fact: Packaging enhances the shelf life of products and reduces wastage during transport. Transporting food allows society to take advantage of different environmental and socio-economic conditions that exist in different places.

Author: Golam Kibria
Publisher: New India Publishing
ISBN: 9789381450512
Category : Agricultural productivity
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The book 'Climate Change and Agricultural Food Production: Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Remedies' provides an overview of climate change impacts on all agricultural food producing sectors (agriculture, livestock and fisheries), food contamination, and food safety (microbial pathogens, toxic biological & toxic chemical contaminants), food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures to counteract or minimise or reduce the effects of climate change on agriculture, livestock and fisheries. It reviews and summarizes research results, data and information from the world including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Polar Regions and Small Island Nations. The book has been structured as textbook, reference book and extension book and written in simple and plain English with key facts and acronyms and glossary provided in each with tables and figures to benefit a wide range of readeThe key data and information provided in each are highlighted below:

Author: Mohidus Samad Khan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319526839
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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This book presents an in depth study of different aspects of pesticide use in food production. The text covers the sources of pesticide residues in foods, relevant health and environmental concerns, degradation of pesticides after their use, and available laws and regulations to regulate pesticide use. In addition, different pesticide management techniques, such as: reduction of pesticide residues in grains and foods, alternatives to conventional pesticides, and prospects of organic farming are also covered. Pesticide Residue in Foods: Sources, Management, and Control aims to raise awareness of the proper use of these chemicals in order to lower residue in foods and reduce risk for consumers.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309037468
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Concern about health effects from exposure to pesticides in foods is growing as scientists learn more about the toxic properties of pesticides. The Delaney Clause, a provision of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, prohibits tolerances for any pesticide that causes cancer in test animals or in humans if the pesticide concentrates in processed food or feeds. This volume examines the impacts of the Delaney Clause on agricultural innovation and on the public's dietary exposure to potentially carcinogenic pesticide residues. Four regulatory scenarios are described to illustrate the effects of varying approaches to managing oncogenic pesticide residues in food.

Author: Rajan Bhatt
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 981165199X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 726

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Book Description
Ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable development are at the top of the list of United Nations (UN) sustainable global development priorities. In the times of high population growth and increasing pressure of agricultural systems, efficiency in use of natural resources has been at the epicenter of sustainable agricultural. The concept of ‘Input efficiency’ implies production of high quantity and quality of food, from using only finite natural resources as inputs, in the form of mainly land, water, nutrients, energy, or biological diversity. In this book, editors provide a roadmap to the food, nutritional, and environmental security in the agricultural systems. They share insight into the approaches that can be put in practice for increasing the input use efficiency in the cropping systems and achieve stability and sustainability of agricultural production systems. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, climate change scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, agroforestry, agroecology, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policymakers will also find this to be a useful read.