Pesticides are drugs that are used to kill insect pests, weeds, some types of fungus, etc. Most often they are used in agriculture. Agricultural pesticides are also called pesticides.
In a broad sense, pesticides are called funds designed to destroy potential pests that are dangerous to humans or their property. Depending on who the pesticides are directed against, they are divided into several groups. For example, insecticides are used to control pests, acaricides - against ticks, rhodonticides - with rodents, herbicides - with weeds, fungicides - with fungi, bactericides - with bacteria, zoocides - with potentially harmful warm-blooded animals, nematicides - with roundworms and etc.
In addition, all pesticides are divided into systemic and contact. The funds belonging to the first group penetrate into plants and kill pests that devour them. Pesticides of the second group destroy animals or plants in direct contact. And, finally, there are three groups of danger of toxic chemicals for humans, as well as several of their types, depending on which chemicals were used in the manufacture of the product. In particular, pesticides are organochlorine, organophosphorus, organomercury, arsenic-containing, etc.
Despite the fact that pesticides are designed to protect people and pets from insects that are carriers of infection, and plants, wood, food supplies, etc. - from potential pests, they themselves can be very dangerous. Gradually accumulating in plants, soil, water, etc., they begin to poison even those people and animals who did not contact them directly. The use of certain pesticides also leads to a deterioration in the ecology and quality of food, disruption of some natural processes, etc. The situation is complicated by the fact that some pests develop immunity to such drugs. For these reasons, it was strictly forbidden to use some of the strongest pesticides, in particular DDT.
