[DanielSlack]

Synopsis:
In our lack of compassion for what is different, we lose what we call humanity. Everyday, our personal biasness blinds us to the pain we inflict on the creatures around us. The more like us they our, the more sympathetic we are to their need. Cut the head off of a Fish and it is hunting, cut the head off of a cat, it is animal cruelty.

In the attempt to "control" pests, we are slowly "controlling" ourselves. We, as humans, need to recognize the we are all part of an ecosystem. The things that effect any part of that ecosystem, effects us. Whether it is smoke billowing form our car exhaust to the chemicals we are spreading through out our environment These conveniences are effecting us and our children. In our attempts to use poisons to control insects, we are slowly poisoning ourselves to suicide.



"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it." Abraham Lincoln

Growing up in Florida part of my life left me with a lot of memories concerning fresh caught seafood. There were times that my father and I went would go fishing. One of my earliest memories was of a time my mother or father had tried to cast a line, and ended up hooking me in the neck. This I actually count as one of my more pleasant fishing memories.

I remember throwing live crabs and clams in pots of water. I was told that they could not feel it as the water raised in temperature. I do remember that the crabs would try their best to escape out of the pots, and I heard squeals while they were cooking.

Then there are other times, when we would go fishing. The fish we caught were filleted on the spot. Sometimes the heads were cut off. Other times, such mercy was not given to them. They were just filleted.

After the knife, father would toss them into the water. Whether it was the heads, or the bodies missing the long strips of meat that were removed. As a child, I would watch these living beings gasp for "breath" for a rather long time.

What we, as the human species, need to understand is that pain is no respecter of species or intelligence. We cannot say that a man whose IQ is below 100 feels any less or more pain then someone with an IQ of 180. When we see an atrocity occur, we only recognize the pain that someone must have suffered through, and we sympathize about he life that is lost. Those that lack the sympathy we call inhuman.

You will not see a man say, "Well, John was retarded. Are we really sure that he felt pain when he was hit by a truck? He flew 10 feet in the air, let out a blood curdling scream and then thrashed about for ten minutes. But was that just a motor response or was he really feeling it?"

But we will find people say fish are unintelligent. We are sure that fish did not feel pain when we hauled it 10 feet in the air with a metal hook in its mouth. We congratulate ourselves, take a picture, weighed it while all the while it is gasping for air and fillet it.

Fish are not cuddly. They seem distant, alien. Unlike cats they do not have fur that to stroke. If I stuck a hook through your cats mouth, dunked him in water and stood and watched while he floundered desperately for air. Would you suspect that might be a painful experience?

It seems to me, though that we fail to recognize the pain that we put animals through, whether through the slaughter of cattle for food, the use of nerve agents against insects. The less like us the victims, the more acceptable it is to lead them to a torturous death.

Proof Of The Fish Experience

There is actually rather a lot of science to back up the fact that fish do feel pain. . Recent research published in April 2003 by The Royal Society investigated the sensory system of trout through their responses to injections of bee venom and acetic acid around their mouths. In effect the research was trying to find out whether fish possessed the same kind of pain receptors that have already been identified in amphibians, birds and mammals including humans. Secondly, whether the response to the pain producer was not just a reflex response which might be akin for example to pressing the belly of a talking doll; but rather an actual adverse reaction to the pain stimulus.

What they found was that the fish had 58 such receptors around the mouth and actually reacted at lower levels of pain stimulation then humans, perhaps because their skin is more easily damaged. After the fish were injected with the venom they were observed to show a rocking motion akin to that displayed by other mammals when experiencing stress; they also rubbed their lips on the bottom of the tank and against the walls, and took over twice as long to resume feeding then a control group. The study, which was led by Dr Lynne Sneddon of Liverpool University concluded:

"Administration of noxious substances to the lips of the trout affected both the physiology and the behaviour of the animal and resulted in a significant increase in opercular beat rate and the time taken to resume feeding, as well as anomalous behaviours. The results of the present study demonstrate nociception and suggest that noxious stimulation in the rainbow trout has adverse behavioral and physiological effects. This fulfills the criteria for animal pain."

In short, they felt pain and reacted to it.

One of the most interesting results of the study is the increase in the length of time it takes for the fish to resume feeding after experiencing pain. This is akin to you falling off your bike as a child and being somewhat reluctant to get back on. Literally the pain is not then just a physical sensation it is psychological. Our poor trout were stressed out. And whilst they are unlikely to win any 'Brain of the Month' awards, it seems churlish to dismiss the feelings they are experiencing as irrelevant simply because they are not making all the mental distinctions we might. Pain is pain is pain when you are the being experiencing it.

The Insect Nervous System

Painful experiences are not limited to only fish reptiles and amphibians. There is a big question on if Insect can feel pain.

It is not known whether insects can feel pain, but even if even though the chances are low, the large number of insects alive makes the expected value of their suffering considerable. Why is it that since we have no real first person experiential data, only postulations, we are not trying to reduce the expected amount of suffering by pests with less painful insecticides?

The evidence is mixed on the question of whether insects can feel pain. A fair number of papers have investigated this topic, but two in particular that have good reviews of the literature are Jane A. Smith, "A Question of Pain in Invertebrates," ILAR Journal, and Jeffrey A. Lockwood, "The Moral Standing of Insects and the Ethics of Extinction," Florida Entomologist (JSTOR link). As Smith notes, "The well-being of invertebrates used for research is being taken increasingly seriously," with V.B. Wigglesworth, "Do Insects Feel Pain?", Antenna, suggesting that we should assume insects can suffer unless we have evidence proving otherwise. I would discourage this precautionary-principle approach in favor of a more conservative Bayesian expected-value approach, but it seems clear to me that it would be wrong to completely ignore the possibility of insect pain until we have more information.

As suggested by Wigglesworth, one area where insects may suffer preventably is in the laboratory; Smith reviews principles for improving care and treatment of such insects. But the numbers of insects involved here is relatively small by comparison to, say, the insects killed by pesticides. One's immediate reaction to this fact might be to try to limit use of pesticides on farms and lawns so that humans kill fewer insects. However, if insect lives aren't worth living, this may be precisely the wrong thing to do, since the insects killed by pesticides would have died in other (probably painful) ways, and pesticides prevent--at least temporarily--the existence of new insects that would otherwise have lived miserable lives. Of course, promoting increased pesticide use may be problematic on account of human-health impacts, as well as perhaps on religious or other (non-utilitarian) philosophical grounds.

The issues raised needs to be explored.

An insect's internal organs are largely innervated by a stomodaeal (or stomatogastric) nervous system. A pair of frontal nerves arising near the base of the tritocerebrum link the brain with a frontal ganglion (unpaired) on the anterior wall of the esophagus. This ganglion innervates the pharynx and muscles associated with swallowing. A recurrent nerve along the anterio-dorsal surface of the foregut connects the frontal ganglion with a hypocerebral ganglion that innervates the heart, corpora cardiaca, and portions of the foregut. Gastric nerves arising from the hypocerebral ganglion run posteriorly to ingluvial ganglia (paired) in the abdomen that innervate the hind gut. In comparison to vertebrates, an insect's nervous system is far more decentralized. Most overt behavior (e.g. feeding, locomotion, mating, etc.) is integrated and controlled by segmental ganglia instead of the brain. In some cases, the brain may stimulate or inhibit activity in segmental ganglia but these signals are not essential for survival. Indeed, a headless insect may survive for days or weeks (until it dies of starvation or dehydration) as long as the neck is sealed to prevent loss of blood!

How Insecticides Work

Most traditional insecticides kill by interfering with the nervous system of the target insect. Many insecticides used are in the organophosphate chemical class. For example, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, isofenphos, malathion and trichlorfon are all organophosphates. Other familiar insecticides, such as bendiocarb and carbaryl, are in another well-known chemical class, the carbamates. Insecticides in both of these classes affect insect nervous systems in the same way.

Nerve cells do not actually touch each other. When an impulse (a tiny electrical current) gets to the end of one nerve cell, it must jump across a gap, the synapse, which separates that cell from the next. The gap contains acetylcholine (ACh). Molecules of ACh carry the impulse across the gap to the receiving cell, to which they attach themselves. When this happens, the receiving cell sends out a new impulse, continuing the process. After the ACh crosses the synapse and reaches the receiving cell, molecules of another compound, cholinesterase (ChE), attach themselves to the ACh and remove it from the membrane of the receiving cell. This leaves the cell in its original state, able to receive another impulse (see diagram, page C 4). All of this happens in a tiny fraction of a second, but a nerve impulse must pass through hundreds or thousands of cells and gaps before it reaches its final destination.

Organophosphates and carbamates interfere with this process by tying up the ChE, and so we call them cholinesterase inhibitors. When ChE is unavailable to pull the ACh off the receiving cell, the ACh stays attached, providing a constant signal for the cell to keep sending an impulse. This muddles the message the nerve cells send. When this happens, the nerve system is unable to distinguish between real and "imagined" impulses.

While humans and other mammals are sensitive to these chemicals in the same manner as insects, the effects usually are much less severe on larger animals. This is because response to exposure usually relates directly to dose. Larger body size often means that a plant to which you have applied an insecticide is not likely to hold a dose great enough to be toxic to larger animals. However, enough toxin is present to kill the target insect. This is not always the case, however, so respect these materials and always heed warning statements on insecticide labels.

Symptoms of overexposure in humans include headaches, muscle twitching, difficulty breathing or swallowing, sweating and other problems related to muscle control. Fortunately, the effect on the nervous system from overexposure to carbamates and organophosphates is reversible, at least up to a point. If a person is suffering from over-exposure to one of these insecticides, staying away from these insecticides for a time gives the body a chance to recover. In extreme cases, a physician can administer an antidote that overcomes pesticide poisoning.

The synthetic pyrethroids also affect insect nervous systems. However, these appear to affect the nerve cell at a different point. Imidacloprid (Bayer's Merit) represents another insecticide class, the chloronicotinyls. Imidacloprid blocks the receptor sites to which ACh attaches, preventing its removal. Most other traditional insecticides also attack the insect nervous system in some fashion or other. In all of these cases, nerve impulses are unable to travel normally from cell to cell.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticides, which are effective larvicides, use bacterial toxins to kill insects. Various strains of Bt are available for control of a variety of insect pests, and these use a mode of action different from other insecticides. The toxins in Bt insecticides paralyze the gut and rupture cells in the stomach lining of insects that ingest the poison. The insects cease feeding and soon die.

Insect growth regulators Manufacturers are developing new approaches that affect the target insect differently and also are much less likely to be toxic to mammals. One approach is the use of insect growth regulators (IGRs). An IGR interferes with the ability of an insect to develop normally.

IGRs can interfere with the development of an insect in two ways. One is to disrupt the normal molting process. As insects feed and grow, they must shed their skin periodically. This process involves several complex interactions that must proceed smoothly. Chemists have identified compounds that prevent the insect from shedding its skin properly or from forming the new skin at the right time. Both of these processes are critical for normal molting, and an insect eventually will die if it is unable to molt properly. The chemicals that affect the molting process, such as diflubenzuron (Uniroyal's Dimilin) and a new compound, halofenozide (RhoMid's Mach 2), are much less acutely toxic to mammals and other vertebrates. This is because vertebrates do not have a process comparable to molting.

Another kind of compound, as long as it is present, signals the insect that it is not yet time to molt to the adult stage. These IGRs naturally are present in immature insects, such as larvae or nymphs, but usually disappear at the end of the last immature stage. Entomologists often refer to these chemicals as juvenile hormones because they keep insects in a juvenile stage.

Juvenile hormones usually are specific to one insect species or to closely related species. Chemists have identified the juvenile hormones for several different kinds of insects. Development of these materials into commercial products is ongoing, but a few that are useful to grounds-care managers already are available. One example is Novartis' Enstar, which controls whiteflies, aphids and other pests on ornamentals.

Because IGRs are specific to the target species, they help preserve beneficial insect populations. Further, because of their low mammalian toxicity, IGRs are becoming popular alternatives in settings where exposure to pesticides is more difficult to avoid, such as greenhouses. Note, however, that IGRs do not kill target insects immediately; do not expect to see dead insects the day after you apply an IGR. Instead, they have a long-term debilitating effect. It may be 2 or 3 weeks before you notice any effect on the target population.

How insects encounter insecticides Insects may encounter insecticides in several ways. Perhaps the most common way is by direct contact. In this case, insecticide residues remain on the surface of the plant you have treated. The insect comes in contact with the material as it walks across the treated surface. The insecticide enters the insect through its feet and then makes its way to the site of action (for example, nerve cells or hormone sites). If the insect is present at the time you apply the insecticide, the spray also may cover the insect and penetrate its body directly.

In some cases, an insect will feed on a treated leaf surface. The insect ingests the insecticide and absorbs it through the stomach lining. In this case, the insecticide is able to attack the site of action more quickly than when the insect simply walks across the treated surface. Ingestion usually is more toxic to the insect than direct contact, so an ingested insecticide will induce a more severe response than the same amount of material an insect encounters through direct contact, but there are exceptions.

Often, an insect will experience both contact and ingestion, thereby getting a double exposure to the insecticide. For example, sod webworms or cutworms usually come in contact with insecticides as they move from the thatch to the surface to feed and also consume some of the treated grass. The combined effect of contact and ingestion proves difficult for the insect to overcome.

Some insecticides change to a vapor quite readily. These materials, fumigants, enter the insect's breathing apparatus. These kinds of products are useful in enclosed areas where the vapors can remain concentrated, such as greenhouses or storage bins, but usually do not work well in open landscapes. However, some insecticides may create a bit of fumigant activity at the time an insect is moving across the treated surface.

Contact vs. systemic insecticides target insects walk across or feed on the plant material to which you have applied the insecticide. Insecticides that work in this manner are contact insecticides. They remain where you applied them and do not move on or inside the plant. Most traditional insecticides are primarily contact materials.

A few insecticides have systemic qualities. This means the plant absorbs the material, which then translocates (moves via the vascular system) to other parts of the plant. Certain fungicides and herbicides are systemic, as well.
Some products translocate upward. In this case, material taken up by the roots can move up into above-ground parts. Other materials translocate downward; pesticide entering the leaves moves to lower regions of the plant.
One common turf and ornamental insecticide, acephate (Valent's Orthene), has systemic characteristics. These qualities make this product particularly effective for controlling insects, such as aphids, which suck plant juices. If the plant tissues contain acephate, the aphids will ingest the insecticide directly when they feed.

Imidacloprid (Bayer's Merit) is another systemic insecticide. Root systems of turfgrasses and ornamentals take up this material, and it then moves into the stems and leaves. The value and convenience of such performance is obvious.

The effect of Insecticides on Humans

A number of insecticides, the phenothiazines, organophosphates such as dichlorvos, malathion and parathion, are nerve agents. The metabolism of insects is sufficiently different from mammals that these compounds have little effect on humans and other mammals at proper doses; but there is considerable concern about the effects of long-term exposure to these chemicals by farm workers and animals alike. At high enough doses, however, acute toxicity and death can occur through the same mechanism as other nerve agents. Organophosphate pesticide poisoning is a major cause of disability in many developing countries, and is often the preferred method of suicide. There are lots of suggestive findings that link insecticides to health risks:

A study performed by researchers in Southern Illinois University, concluded that the quantities of organophosphorus pesticides present in the environment could be harmful to the yellow-legged frog, Rana boylii.

In a Chinese study, effects of using acetochlor and urea, both when mixed together and by themselves, on earthworms were evaluated. The study concluded that toxicity of acetochlor increased with concentration and higher urea concentrations were strongly toxic to the earthworms. At higher concentrations, a combination of urea and acetochlor had a synergistic toxic effect that may effect humans.

A paper published in Greece discerned the different aspects of honeybee poisoning with anticholinesterase insecticides.

A Brazilian study positively concluded that the herbicide Roundup adversely affects the reproductive function of wild ducks by altering the structure of the testis and also by changing the hormone levels in serum.

A Polish study observed that exposure of Cyprinus carpio (a fish) to a concentration of Roundup 20-40 folds lower than that used in practice caused numerous changes in the Mitochondria suggesting that Roundup is harmful to the fish.

According to a study performed in Brazil, during pregnancy and lactation, rats exposed to Roundup produced male progeny who had decreased sperm count and increase in sperm abnormalities along with dose-related decrease in serum testosterone levels.

In yet another study from Brazil, maternal exposure to sulfentrazone was concluded to cause neuromuscular and behavioral problems in rat pups.

A study conducted on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells in India concluded that use of cypermethrin (Type II pyrethroid), dichlorvos (organophosphate) and pendimethalin (dinitroaniline herbicide) chemicals caused DNA damage and cytotoxicity.

A Hungarian study performed on chicken embryos concluded that administration of herbicide containing 2,4-D along with cadmium led to embryo mortality and along with copper led to developmental anomalies.

A study conducted in Germnay, studied the effects of metazachlor on aquatic macrophytes (water plants) and concluded that a single exposure of metazachlor to these plants had long-term effect on the aquatic ecosystem.
Atrazine a commonly used herbicide in USA was shown to be an immune disruptor in northern leopard frogs.

A Hungarian study conducted to study effects of pesticides and their photo degenerative products on soil microbes concluded that the pesticide caused significant changes in the soil microbiota.

A study performed in Mexico on Nile tilapia (a fish) using diazinon, an organophosphorus pesticide, concluded that the pesticide is immunotoxic to this fish.

Effects of chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate) and deltamethrin (a pyrethroid pesticide) on rats was studied by a team in Turkey and they concluded that both pesticides caused liver damage, which was dose dependant and that deltamethrin caused more damage than chlorpyrifos.

Zebrafish were used to study the effects of organochlorine pesticides by a team in Brazil. The results showed that these pesticides had an effect on growth and gill morphology of the zebrafish.

Effects of carbofuran (carbamate insecticide) and diazinon (an organophosphate insecticide) on the flight times of homing pigeons was studied by a team in US and they concluded that carbofuran had a more pronounced increase on the flight times of the birds as compared to diazinon and was dose-dependant.

As concluded by authors of a study conducted in US, extended exposure of mice to two pyrethroid pesticides (deltamethrin and permethrin), resulted in increased DNA fragmentation, which is a marker for apoptosis (programmed cell death) via a pathway involving dopamine.

Use of artificial insecticides and herbicides has been increasing over the years. Most scientific studies describe the horrifying effects of these chemicals related to short term exposure compared to the number of years of use. The adverse effects of rampant use of these harmful chemicals over long term needs to be evaluted but in the mean time awareness needs to be generated among the common population regarding the harm done by use of these chemicals.

It is presumptuous for humanity to think that what effects other species will not effect us in some way. Here is a lin that explains the direct effects of specific chemicals to our bodies:

Pesticide Human Health Effects

How Chemical Weapon Nerve Agents Effect Humans:

Nerve agents attack all synapses that use acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter...this means both the central and peripheral nervous systems are affected. A few symptoms of nerve agent poisoning include:

Neuromuscular Effects:

* Twitching

* Weakness

* Paralysis

* Respiratory failure

Autonomic Nervous System Effects:

* Reduced Vision

* Small pupil size

* Drooling

* Sweating

* Diarrhea

* Nausea

* Abdominal pain

* Vomiting

Central Nervous System Effects:

* Headache

* Convulsions

* Coma

* Respiratory arrest

* Confusion

* Slurred speech

* Depression

* Respiratory depression

And Ultimately Death. You can read an interesting paper on the subject here:
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/...electrv699.pdf.

Insecticides In Regards To The UN Chemical Weapons Ban

Following the large-scale use of chemical weapons during the first world war, several attempts were made to ban the use of these terrible weapons with very little success. The extensive use of chemical weapons in the late 1980s by Iraq, during the Iraq-Iran war, however, served as a final spur to those seeking such a ban. After many years of negotiation, it finally became a reality with the entry into force of the chemical-weapons convention (CWC), on 29 April 1997.

Nerve Agents are the most dangerous and fatal in even very small amounts. Cause convulsions and death by respiratory paralysis. Can be absorbed through the skin and penetrates clothing. Some of the same nerve agents that the UN has banned for us in war, we use on insects on a daily basis, with cumulative effect on us. Our exposure is minimal, but over time, the effects are cumulative.

Conclusion

In our lack of compassion for what is different, we lose what we call humanity. Everyday, our personal biasness blinds us to the pain we inflict on the creatures around us. The more like us they our, the more sympathetic we are to their need. Cut the head off of a Fish and it is hunting, cut the head off of a cat, it is animal cruelty.

In the attempt to "control" pests, we are slowly "controlling" ourselves. We, as humans, need to recognize the we are all part of an ecosystem. The things that effect any part of that ecosystem, effects us. Whether it is smoke billowing form our car exhaust to the chemicals we are spreading through out our environment These conveniences are effecting us and our children. In our attempts to use poisons to control insects, we are slowly poisoning ourselves to suicide.

"This (Tokyo nerve gas attack) was done not by people with a political ideal but by a lunatic religious group whose idea of a happy death is mass suicide" Atsuyuki Sassas