International Day Against Pesticides
December 3
                                  The goal of International Pesticide Free Day is to draw global attention to the problems caused by the production and use of these hazardous chemicals. Pesticides are synthetic chemicals that many countries widely used in the second half of the 20th century to increase agricultural yields.
     However, as it later became clear, the industrial production of these chemicals caused more harm than good for the world’s population. Pesticides not only achieved their intended purpose, allowing for high yields in rural fields (which, however, was later questioned), but also damaged water, soil, plants, animals, and people, causing irreparable harm.
     In the final decades of the 20th century, pesticides became a major risk factor for human life and health, as well as for all living things, in a number of countries. While the annual per capita pesticide use in the USSR in the 1960s was less than one kilogram, by the end of Perestroika, this figure had tripled. According to UN experts, pesticides are the main cause of the “silent catastrophe”—as the current state of soils in Europe is known. Furthermore, it has been discovered that pesticides are so persistent and so widespread that they have even been detected in Antarctic penguins, where they were carried by air and ocean currents.
     The consequences of chemical exposure on the Earth’s biosphere are dire. They lead to various mutations and diseases in humans and animals, disruption of the reproductive and hormonal systems, immune status, cancer, and birth defects.
     Today, as a counterpoint to “pesticide-based” agriculture, scientists are promoting the concept of “organic farming,” based on combining different plant species, natural pest control, and replacing chemical fertilizers with organic ones. However, the question of when this concept will find widespread practical application remains open.