Pesticides are substances that are meant for attracting, seducing, and then usually destroying the pest itself. These substances can be chemicals or biological agents that are killing the pests. These toxic substances are released into the environment intentionally to kill living things. Specifically, an insecticide is a substance or chemical that is used for the killing of insects and herbicides are used to kill unwanted vegetation. Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) was one of the first chemicals that were widespread as a pesticide. DDT is one of many substances that are classified as endocrine disrupting chemicals. These chemicals, at certain doses, can interfere with the endocrine system in mammals. The chemicals that are and have
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As a result, convulsions, paralysis, death and interference with calcium-dependent processes can occur. Even though DDT was effective, it still harmed insects that were beneficial. By DDT killing a wide range of organisms and also it being stored in the fat of animals, the large amount of DDT used was accumulating in the food chains. During the early uses of DDT, it became a use for controlling the gnats in Clear Lake, California. While conducting studies in this area after the insecticide was administered, they found that there was a major decline in the health of multiple bird species in that area. They also found high concentrations of this chemical in plankton and fish in this Lake (Husic and Kahler 2014). After this instance, the toxicity of DDT was becoming better known across the United States. This then brought about the negative impacts that DDT had on agriculture. More and more they saw affects on different aspects of the ecosystems from the administration of …show more content…
Not only were Bald Eagles, but also many other species were experiencing this problem before the ban of DDT. A study was conducted in 2005 to test if DDT was causing these issues at embryonic exposure. It was known that eggshell thinning could be induced following embryonic exposure to the synthetic estrogen ethynylestradiol (EE2) (Holm et. al 2005). The avian eggshell consists mainly of calcium carbonate and the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which catalyzes the first step of carbonate ion formation. DDT was shown to have estrogenic activity in male birds and embryonic exposure to DDT resulted in malformations of the embryonic oviducts (Holm et. al. 2005). To investigate whether eggshell thinning occurred after ovo exposure, they exposed domestic hens in ovo to DDT or EE2 (which was the positive control). The hens that were exposed to both of these substances laid eggs that had a thinner shell. They also found that these hens had reduced frequency of shell gland capillaries with carbonic anhydrase (Holm et. al 2005). This is the enzyme that is key to the formation of the eggshell. They found that the harmful consequences to these eggs were only happening when exposed to larger amounts of
As a result, convulsions, paralysis, death and interference with calcium-dependent processes can occur. Even though DDT was effective, it still harmed insects that were beneficial. By DDT killing a wide range of organisms and also it being stored in the fat of animals, the large amount of DDT used was accumulating in the food chains. During the early uses of DDT, it became a use for controlling the gnats in Clear Lake, California. While conducting studies in this area after the insecticide was administered, they found that there was a major decline in the health of multiple bird species in that area. They also found high concentrations of this chemical in plankton and fish in this Lake (Husic and Kahler 2014). After this instance, the toxicity of DDT was becoming better known across the United States. This then brought about the negative impacts that DDT had on agriculture. More and more they saw affects on different aspects of the ecosystems from the administration of …show more content…
Not only were Bald Eagles, but also many other species were experiencing this problem before the ban of DDT. A study was conducted in 2005 to test if DDT was causing these issues at embryonic exposure. It was known that eggshell thinning could be induced following embryonic exposure to the synthetic estrogen ethynylestradiol (EE2) (Holm et. al 2005). The avian eggshell consists mainly of calcium carbonate and the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which catalyzes the first step of carbonate ion formation. DDT was shown to have estrogenic activity in male birds and embryonic exposure to DDT resulted in malformations of the embryonic oviducts (Holm et. al. 2005). To investigate whether eggshell thinning occurred after ovo exposure, they exposed domestic hens in ovo to DDT or EE2 (which was the positive control). The hens that were exposed to both of these substances laid eggs that had a thinner shell. They also found that these hens had reduced frequency of shell gland capillaries with carbonic anhydrase (Holm et. al 2005). This is the enzyme that is key to the formation of the eggshell. They found that the harmful consequences to these eggs were only happening when exposed to larger amounts of