Pests pose serious health risks to humans, animals and plants alike. While some feed on plants and stunt their growth or destroy them outright, others feast on animal and human blood and also destroy household and other articles. Some even act as disease carriers. Peaceful life can be a distant dream if pests go about unchecked. The importance of pesticides in our survival cannot be overemphasized.
Using natural remedies for pest infestation is in vogue these days. However, their effectiveness depends on the insect or animal or any other creature that is to be removed. Some natural repellents like citric oil can deter ants, cockroaches and mites cannot be exterminated by them. However, the situation is different if chemical compounds are used. They can wipe out all pests from a house if used extensively. However, larger scale usage of these poisons have resulted in lose of ecological balance and extensive injury to the environment.
Great care needs to be taken while handling chemical pesticides. The user has to be through about the kind of poison he is going to handle. They should not be applied where food is kept in the open. Gas masks need to be worn so that the fumes or the spray are not inhaled. Before applying pesticides on food items used as bait, it has to be ensured that no children or useful animal have access to them.
In order to counter all the negative publicity chemical pesticides are attracting these days, manufacturers are coming up with assurances about the environmental viability of their products. They even advise the user the right manner of use and dosages. Biological controls and natural pesticides are highly effective in enclosed places like green houses or residences and small farms; they may not be that much efficient in sanitizing larges areas from pestilence.
However, mindless application of chemical pesticides should be discouraged and only limited quantities are to be used in emergency and unavoidable circumstances. Otherwise, human race will end up as the biggest prey to these highly toxic chemicals.
