The Impact of Agent Orange, 2, 4-d, in Pesticides and The Dangers It Poses to Agricultural Yields

Agent Orange in Crops

In the latest herbicide revival, a contaminate found in Agent Orange,2,4-d, has been found in the latest creation by the Dow pesticide company, as well as Monsanto. This is causing up rise in American farmers, EPA, and health advocates. The concern for this is the fact that this chemical was the main ingredient in agent orange to cause of the multitude of health defects and health concerns known to and affecting many. The defects may not appear initially but caused great harm overtime, through multiple generations.

Many of the health concerns is pertaining to cancer, primarily lung cancer and lymphoma. Due to this chemical being a neurotoxin it can also lead to “hormone disruption, [and] certain forms of genetic mutations” (Lappe). As Anna Lappe has stated, having a chemical that leads to liver disease and Parkinson’s disease spreading to nearby areas and affecting farms and streams that have nothing to do with the such pesticides could become a worldwide epidemic. With the known drifting issue, this new neurotoxin can affect even the most organic farms as well as nearby areas and wildlife.

With consistent reengineering of seeds and agriculture, it has led to a very high resistance of many herbicides of pesticides. This adapting has led to super weeds which, according to the New York Times, is one of the largest threats to agriculture production known. As the resistance’s spreads it has become even more toxic than the previous pesticide known as Roundup which has a huge amount of dioxins. However, farmers don’t have a chance in standing up to the mega corporations. Many of corporations bought up all the seed companies and reengineered them, forcing the farmers to buy and then incorporate the seeds into their fields. This manipulation spiked in the 1980s and has held ever sense. The reengineering of seeds increased, and so did the lethality of the pesticides required to keep them at bay.

The only option available is breaking the cycle. This is being a decades-long cycle that continues to worsen every day. As a toxicity of the chemicals continues it will inevitably affect all and develop health concerns that are irreversible. It’s up to the customer to fight the battle against genetically modified products and prevent it from worsening.