'Do pesticide residues in food pose a significant risk to consumer Essay

'Do pesticide residues in food pose a significant risk to consumer health - Essay Example Studies revealed that residues of pesticides remain in the crops for some time that eventually enter the cycle of the food chain. If these chemicals can kill and destroy the pests, they can also pose a potential danger to human beings. A safe level is then studied by researchers to establish the tolerable amount of pesticide residues that can ingested and does not endanger human beings. Incidents from around the globe reveal that human beings suffer from pesticide poisoning or overdose that has adversely affected life and health. This occurred despite stringent regulation by government regulatory agencies. Can pesticide be continuously used so that crops can be grown in abundance and free of disease but still not endanger the life of human beings? Without pesticide, farmers and growers will suffer great losses when pests and diseases attack their farms. But on the consumer end, death and illness can result. A balance has to be made so that both the production and consumer sides can b enefit. Pesticides that can be used in plants must be approved by regulating agencies (Food Standards Agency 2004). Introduction Pesticide is a general term that refers to a wide array of products used to decimate pests in the house, agricultural farm, etc. such as insect killers (called insecticides), mould and fungi killers (or fungicides), weedkillers (herbicides), slug pellets (molluscicides), rat and mouse killers (rodenticides), plant growth regulators, and bird and animal repellents (Health and Safety Executive 2009). United States Environmental Protection Agency (2010) included disinfectants and sanitizers (for kitchen or laundry), chemicals used for swimming pools, personal insect repellents, baits and sprays for cockroaches, and powders and sprays for fleas and ticks. There are natural pesticides such as pyrethrums (taken from chrysanthemum plant) and others are modified forms of natural chemicals (Health and Safety Executive 2009). For several decades, pesticides are bein g used by food growers in order to make the produce look good and abundant (Health and Safety Executive 2009). The chemicals used in regulating the growth of plants (e.g. one that slows down sprouting in potatoes) are likewise classified as pesticides and are regulated (Food Standards Agency 2004). Without using pesticides, the crops can lose their quality (Food Standards Agency 2004) making them not saleable in the market. Pesticide is used primarily for the benefits it can offer. In the farm, it protects the crops from pesky insects, weeds and fungi that cause diseases in plants (Health and Safety Executive 2009). Farm crops grow healthy and protected from diseases by pesticides (Food Standards Agency 2004). It also prevents rats, fungi and insects from contaminating the food while under storage (Health and Safety Executive 2009). In most instances, there are trace amounts of the chemicals used that remain inside or around the produce after harvest or while being stored (Food Stan dards Agency n.d.). These chemicals are called pesticide residues, and also include traces that result from the breakdown of pesticides (Food Standards Agency n.d.). It is sometimes necessary that a pesticide must stay longer on the crop to effectively protect it (Food Standards Agency n.d.). Exhaustive studies are conducted by regulatory agencies in collaboration with scientific institutions to confirm the report submitted by a company about the pesticide intended to be sold to the public. Upon the grant of approval, the

Gun laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gun laws - Essay Example Specifically, the events of the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting alongside the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have galvanized public opinion on both sides of the issue. As such, this brief analysis will seek to consider the debate from the perspective of the pro-gun control movement. In such a way, it will be the express goal of this author to relate to the reader some of the most powerful arguments in favor of further gun control and the rationale behind these. As such, it is the author’s hope that the reader will gain a more nuanced and complete understanding of the main arguments for further gun control by an analysis of the following 4 arguments: the Second Amendment does not, nor did it ever, provide for individual gun rights, the high rate of gun related violence and death, as well as the societal needs for reasonable gun control laws, and whether or not further testing should be put in place for those individuals that have a propensity to instability. Finally, a n examination of an even more vehement argument with regards to gun control will be entertained and discussed. The first, and perhaps most contentious of the issues that this analysis will seek to discuss, is the issue of whether or not the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution sought to convey individual gun rights to the citizen. ... In such a way, the Second Amendment can and should be interpreted as little more than admission from the Federal government that it promises not to infringe upon the rights of the militias (National Guard and Army Reserves) to maintain a stock of weaponry for the purpose of defense and securing the borders of the new nation. This particular argument hinges upon interpretation of the Constitution; one of the most contested documents within the political spectrum (Saenz 1). However, from a rhetorically honest standpoint, the text of the bill specifies specifically what it denotes; i.e. the right of the states and by extension the militias under their control to retain weapons. In short, such argument is valid; however, it cannot be used to effectively engage those members of the pro-gun persuasion due to the fact that they have almost invariably chosen to interpret the document by a wholly different standard (Trotter 26). The second argument which will be utilized within this brief ana lysis is the fact the extraordinarily high rate of gun crime and the increasingly gruesome nature that it has taken within the past several years demands stricter gun laws. There have always been cases of extreme violence, even massacres, within American society; however, the fact of the matter is that almost all of these hideous crimes have a single factor in common; the widespread and pervasive use of semi-automatic weapons, readily obtained by individuals who can easily be described as unstable, as well as the implementation and usage of high capacity magazines (Shear 1). Whether or not guns should be allowed is not the central issue that is up for debate; rather, the issue at hand is the ease and availability that is unilaterally shared by almost all of the purveyors