User:Mxd8371/Central valley

Introduction

Pesticides are chemicals used to kill parasites that grow on crops. In an attempt to benefit the crops, humans are losing sight of the negative impacts that these pesticides are having on the health of people. In recent years, numerous studies show a positive correlation to long-term health conditions with the use of pesticides. Although pesticides are being used in agricultural fields, windblown erosion and spray drift have resulted in pesticides affecting a greater number of individuals among the population.

Health Effects of Pesticides

Pesticides aren’t only impacting the general population rather they are causing widespread disturbances in future generations. Many pregnant mothers with exposure to these harmful substances have given birth to children displaying signs of autism spectrum disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, prostate cancers, birth deformities, and much more.

Autism spectrum disorder is a disorder associated with the genetic makeup of an individual and draws upon characteristics that result in slower motor growth as well as an increased chance of a communication deficiency. It also encompasses impairments in social interactions the individual takes place. Motor control is below the average as people with autism spectrum disorder may focus their eye movements on different parts of the face when an individual is communicating with them. That being said, those with this disorder are likely to live a typical life as they are able to read, write, and live normally just with a few impairments when it comes to interactions.

Neurodegenerative diseases are most commonly associated with neural activity in the brain. The most common neurodegenerative diseases include but are not limited to  Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis. Organophosphates, a compound found in many pesticides linked to these diseases, decreased prefrontal brain activation. This means that the cognitive processes and decision-making are inhibited from the average amount. Long-term planning is slowed down.

Pesticides have a great impact on developing cancers in those individuals that are exposed. Common cancer resulting as a consequence is prostate cancer. Organophosphates in most pesticides can trigger mutations in semiconservative helixes and essential damaging DNA, or they may disrupt hormones. All of these impairments can have the consequences of  inflaming tissues and affecting the body on a genetic level by inhibiting or allowing a certain gene to turn on or off. In general, Many pesticides are carcinogenic, which are chemicals that are sources for accusing cancers.

Case Study: Central Valley

Several Case studies were done in the Central Valley to determine if these health-related problems mentioned above were viable consequences for the pesticide contraction, especially in the Central Valley.

A study where enlarged levels of pesticides especially residences in proximity to  agricultural field sites were taken. Children in California's Central valley were collected as a sample from the overall population, and the scientists evaluated whether “pesticide applications during key periods of gestation could be associated with the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children ''. A sample of 465 children was taken into consideration especially between the years of 1996–1998. The information was provided by the California Department of Developmental Services where the children were compared to other normal children as a control. This could include normal-birth-weight as an average. The location where children were close to pesticide outbreaks was determined by analytic polygon graphing. It was eventually found that organochlorine pesticide applications were common in the mapped-out areas and were parallel with central nervous system embryogenesis consequences. “Children of mothers living within 500 m of field sites with the highest nonzero quartile of organochlorine poundage to those with mothers not living near field sites suggested an odds ratio for ASD of 6.1 (95% confidence interval, 2.4–15.3). ASD risk increased with the poundage of organochlorines applied and decreased with distance from field sites.” This case study came to a consensus that there was an association between location proximity from organochlorine pesticide applications and ASD among children. That being said, there still needs to be more studies done in order to solidify the relationship between the two.

Groups who are Being Targeted

Many studies were conducted in order to determine the source that resulted in the spread of long-lasting consequences from pesticides, and the majority reported farmworkers. Workers who are in direct contact with pesticides in the farmlands are highly susceptible to the negative consequences of pesticides.

As recorded from a pilot study done by California’s  Department of Health Services in 1997: “house dust samples for pesticide analysis were collected from eleven homes, five of which had at least one farmworker (FW) resident”. These farmworkers are part of the greater “low-income communities” that have exhibited great amounts of damage from the spread of these pollutants.

These “low-income communities' ' showcased conditions of a lower quality of health and overall life which was inwards connected with their living conditions. The action of redlining highlighted these communities in the Central Valley and eventually resulted in an association between the uncleanliness of the environment to the location that these communities were placed. With the redlining centered in the Central Valley, several characteristics of grouping eventually escalated to including racial discrimination which officially defined the area of the type of community it was.