Tim, "Natural and Green Pesticides"

Recently pesticides have been a pretty big topic for the government, the media, and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Pesticides are both good and bad, and regulators and users constantly struggle to find a compromise between health, economy, and comfort. But what many people might not realize is that some pesticides occur naturally in the environment, for example: nicotine, rotenone, the pheromones, and juvenile hormones. Some of these natural pesticides are actually produced by plants to kill or disable predatory insects. Chemists also sometimes use and isolate these naturally occurring pesticides to control the effects of unwanted insects. The EPA has also approved of green chemistry research to control insects. The goal of this research was to develop ways to make and use pesticides that are safer for humans and other animals.

Green Chemistry: the science of designing chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.

One reason why I chose to do research on pesticides is because over the summer I set sticky traps on citrus trees with a pheromone attached to them. The insect that I was trying to catch was called California Red Scale, and the sent was that of the female and it attracted the male. I feel that pesticides increase our standard of living, but at the same time we shouldn’t mindlessly use them. It should be encouraged to always try and find new and better ways of doing things, and insecticides and pesticides should not be an exception.

Chemistry in Your Life: Second Edition. By: Colin Baird. Pg. 394-396