Toxic Soup
Presently, over 85,000 chemicals are used in the US causing exposures to both known and potential health hazards. These chemicals are detected in various body fluids of almost all Americans and in the global population as well.3 They are categorized based on type of usage, route of exposure, toxicologic effects and their longevity/half-lives in biologic tissue.4 The scope of the problem of trying to monitor blended effects from chemical mixtures is unwieldy. However, one can narrow down the largest groups employed and that cause some of the greatest harm. Those chemicals are pesticides.
Public Health
A particular problem faced by African children that confounds the issue with pesticide application is the usage of pesticides in public health.
There are serious diseases spread by animal and insect vectors (malaria, Dengue Fever, Zika Virus, Lyme Disease, etc.), and these organisms can contaminate food crops/processing facilities, homes and schools. In order to protect children from these health risks, pesticides have played a vital role.
A cogent example of the employment of pesticides in the treatment of vector- born illness, such as malaria, is the usage of insecticide-treated mosquito nets as promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2015, 438,000 people were killed by malaria and 70% of those killed were children under the age of 5 years.5
However, even as this measure saved so many lives, a study in 2002 demonstrated mosquito resistance to pyrethroids, the class of insecticide used in the netting and recommended the addition of a carbamate insecticide to enhance the efficacy of the nets.6
However, children would have significant exposure via respiratory and dermal routes by a dual pesticide combination (childhood exposure will be discussed later in this chapter) and both of these insecticides have been linked to neurologic disorders.7,8
The delicate balance between children’s health and pesticides from a public health perspective elucidates the need for vector control. However, it begs the question as to whether we can we do better in terms of health protection simultaneously decreasing toxicant exposures for the sake of protection and preservation of our children’s health.
It is important to note that this public health issue should not be seen as an open invitation for the biotechnology industry to put pressure on African nations to accept novel forms of transgenic technology such as gene drives and genome editing, with the goal of manipulating biologic ecosystems (such as The Target Malaria Project).9
It is worth referencing a recent report to best appreciate the African perspective, Profiteering From Health and Ecological Crises in Africa, published by
“…A historical review of malaria eradication success stories in Africa shows that traditional methods can be successful in eradicating this killer disease. If, in the light of new discoveries related to how transmission is evolving, novel approaches to control malaria are warranted, applications that are based on shifting ecosystems and that entail unprecedented environmental and human health risks should be unequivocally rejected by African governments and society.
African ecosystems have already reached tipping points; what we need is to protect our biodiversity and support domestic strategies to combat malaria that are focused on bolstering health care systems and fixing public infrastructure.”10