During the 1940s and 1950s, after World War 2 pesticide and herbicide products were used to improve crop fields by killing off unwanted plants and pests. They were applied over fruits and vegetables and workers were in constant contact with these chemicals. However, the same chemicals used in crops fields, were the same or had similar chemicals compounds found in chemical weapons during WW2. What was not known was how applying these chemicals in our environment would impact ecosystems, living things and food resources. This practice is still used today, especially in California’s crop fields such as the central valley. Although there are some similarities on how herbicides and pesticides are used in the past and now, there are differences in terms of how it’s regulated and used.
"Whenever I pick oranges, I feel so bad; my mouth feels …show more content…
The visibility of pesticide toxicity was a slow process. From the 1950s to 1960s, information about pesticide toxicity was finally brought to the attention of the general public. One of the effects pesticide toxicity had on humans was the nervous system. Farmers and farmworkers during this time were spraying their fields with a wide variety of chemicals such as: DDT, Parathion, Demeton, Tetraethyl Phosphate, Chlorthion, etc. These chemicals attacked the nervous system causing a wide variety of symptom that, during this time period, went unnoticed. It was not until the 1970s that the government considered pesticide toxicity a threat to humans and the environment. With that, the government imposed regulations on the use of pesticide use. However, in 1949, the California Department of Public Health reported around 300 cases of “poisoning by agricultural chemicals within the state, including two deaths”(Linda Nash, Pg 205). The effects of agricultural chemicals were known among the government but were kept from the general