Pesticides and human health

Abstract

The quality of human environment has been gravely threatened by the various technological spin offs. Chemical pollution of air, soil, and water has emerged as a great hazard to organic life. Pesticides, particularly the organochlorines and organophosphates, constitute one of the main environmental pollutants, posing danger to the biological fitness of man and animals. Paucity of definite information on their mechanism of action in living systems, their effects on aging and disease resistance, possible interaction with other environmental factors, and carcinogenic and mutagenic potential, call for intensive research in these areas. This is a selective survey of recent literature on the effects of organophosphorus and organochlorine insecticides on man and other mammals.