In this article, you’ll have an opportunity to read the definition of a pesticide, how long it persists and more info on persistent pesticides and non-persistent pesticides.
Persistent Pesticides
“Persistent” pesticides can be described as pesticides that are considered to be toxic, and they can have a very dangerous effect on the environment. They take a long time to breakdown in the environment.
Humans, fish, and animals can be affected by these pesticides for many years in the future, especially since they will not breakdown in the environment fast enough. Here is a list of the most persistent pesticides and their duration.
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- Chlordane is a chemical pesticide that can be used to exterminate termites in a home or in other places that they are found. When this pesticide is sprayed in a home, it can last up to 20 years.
- Hexachlorobenzene is a pesticide that is used to prevent crop damage since is a fungus that can destroy plants and crops. When this pesticide is sprayed on crops, it can last from 3 to 6 years.
- Mirex is a pesticide that is used to control insects like termites and fire ants and termites. When this pesticide is sprayed in places where they reside, it can last with a half-life of at least 10 years.
- Toxaphene is a pesticide that is used to exterminate insects that infect cotton as well as livestock. Therefore, it is has been used to kill mites and ticks that exist in both. When this pesticide is sprayed in these types of settings, it can last up to 12 years.
- Aldrin is a persistent pesticide that has been used to exterminate grasshoppers, termites and other small pest control problems. When this pesticide is sprayed in a home, it can last up to 10 years.
- DDT is a very well known chemical pesticide that’s used to exterminate mosquitoes in a home and outdoors, too. When this pesticide is sprayed in a home, it can last from 2 to15 years.
- Dieldrin is a pesticide that has been designed specifically to kill off a termite infestation. When this pesticide is sprayed in a home or any other place that has termites, it can last up to 60 years in the soil.
- Endrin is considered to be an insecticide but it can be used to kill off a rodent infestation, When this pesticide is sprayed in a home or any other place that has these problems, it can last up to 10 years.
- Heptachlor is a pesticide that can be used to exterminate anything in and around the home including grasshoppers, mosquitoes, and termites. When this pesticide is sprayed in a home, it can last up to 2 to 7 years based on conditions and in the soil.
Here is a video explaining why persistent pesticides are dangerous:
How to get rid of pesticides?
If you want to get rid of pesticides present on fruits and vegetables consider reading our article which describes all methods that can be used: how to wash off pesticides. Also, if you want to get rid of the smell, we have another article: get rid of pesticide smell.
What is a Pesticide?
Based on information published by the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, a pesticide can be described as a mixture of substances that have been created solely for the purposes of destroying, repelling and mitigating the pests population.
Therefore, when you research the ingredients in pesticides, you may find that its make-up consists of a number of different things, including poisonous mixture for insects and chemical killers for weeds.
Having said this, to protect your family from dangerous pesticides, you need to learn as much as you can about the different types. Once you start researching information on this topic, one of the first things that you may discover is that there are 2 different classes of pesticides that you need to know about.
Therefore, you may hear people in the industry refer to both persistent and non-persistent pesticides in their communications.
Each of these classes is vastly different in make-up and properties so you need to know what the distinctions are based on their definitions. In fact, here are the differences between the two.
Where can persistent pesticides accumulate?
Persistent pesticides are known for accumulating in different places and can have many half-lives. These factors are based on varying conditions, particularly the environment that they are in.
For instance, persistent pesticides like permethrin usually accumulate and break down as follows.
In the Soil
Break down timing ranges from 11 to 113 days – has a half-life of approximately 40 days
In the Water Column
Break down timing ranges from 19 to 27 days – has a half-life of approximately 19 to 27 hours. Also, When this persistent pesticide sticks to sediment it can remain over a year.
On Plant Surfaces
Break down timing ranges from a half-life of 1 to 3 weeks. The timing for plant surfaces is based on the species of the plant.
Indoors
Break down timing is considered to be a half-life that is highly variable. The timing in an indoor environment can last over 20 days.
Non – Persistent Pesticides
Unlike persistent pesticides, the non-persistent pesticides can be described as those pesticides that cause the least harm to the environment. Because non-persistent pesticides do not last for extended periods of time, the effects left after an application is actually short in duration.
Here is a list of the most non- persistent pesticides and their duration. Simply put, these pesticides break down their compositions very quickly and cause less havoc to the environment as a whole. With that being said, here are the different types of classes that you can find in this group.
- Herbicides
- Pyrethroids
- Fungicides
- Chlorinated phenols
- Repellents
- Cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides
In the 1970s, the non-persistent class of pesticides became vert well and widely used in the United States. This is because of the non-persistent pesticides being banned in this area so manufacturers had to stop their production in their companies altogether.
Because the non-persistent pesticides were also deemed as the compounds that were not as harmful to people and the environment, they could be used widely in homes all over the U.S. and in the crops that were growing.
These pesticides were also seen as a lot more or just as effective as their counterparts on the persistent pesticide side.
However, even though the use of this group of pesticides were approved, there was little to no information on how these type of pesticides would actually affect people that came in contact with these compounds.
Biodegradable and persistent pesticides
When you begin to do your research on pesticides, you may also review how persistent pesticides can be associated with different things, including having an association with biodegradable properties.
For instance, if you do your homework on biodegradable pesticides, you will most likely discover that they can be broken down other living things. Or, they can be broken down by microbes.
Once these pesticides are broken down, they are harmless to the environment. However, even though the time duration for some of these pesticides is relatively short (only a few months), there are others that can only be broken down within a matter of years.
Examples of persistent organic pollutants
If you want to know how to identify different types of persistent organic pollutants, you should review the characteristics that have been listed below.
Because these pesticides are toxic, it is important to pay close attention to what you should be looking for. With this in mind, here are 4 of the top characteristics that can describe these carbon-based chemicals.
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- These types of pesticides are presently known to last in the environment around you for many years.
- When people and wildlife come in contact with these pesticides, these substances can be very harmful and the environment can be toxic.
- Professionals in this industry describe these pesticides as passing through the food chain after it has been accumulated.
- All over the world, these types of pesticides can also be transported extremely long distances.
Examples:
- Aldrin
- Chlordan
- DDT
- Dieldrin
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)
- Mirex
- Toxaphene
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)
- Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD)
- Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)
Conclusion
There is a huge amount of information online about pesticides and how the type of adverse that they have on people, animals, and the environment.
Even though some of these pesticides are used commonly for many different reasons and purposes, it is very important that people understand the difference between the different classifications.
By doing your research, you can identify those pesticides that are harmful to you and your family and the environment around you as a whole.
Fortunately, some of the pesticides (non-persistent pesticides) that you have access to today are not considered to be harmful, especially because they will not remain long periods of time in the soil, the foods and the body.
On the other hand, there is a group of pesticides (persistent pesticides) that can cause a great deal of damage to the environment because of its highly toxic nature.
To prevent damage that can last for many years to come (in some cases up to 60 years toxicity in the soil), manufacturers in the United States have been banned from producing these chemicals.
Therefore, people are encouraged to use non-persistent pesticides to get rid of certain types of pests infestations in their homes, gardens, crops and other places where infestations can break out.
Also, to find the best options for a particular infestation, there are products that are highly recommended for extermination and keeping new infestations from rising up and growing again in the same places.