Question

Use of pesticides to protect our crops affect organisms at various trophic levels especially human beings. Name the phenomenon involved and explain how does it happen.

Answer 1

Biomagnification or bioaccumulation refers to how pesticides influence creatures at different trophic levels, including humans.

Biomagnification: This is the process by which certain substances, such as pesticides, become more concentrated at higher trophic levels in a food chain.

Explanation :

1. Pesticide Application: Chemicals known as pesticides are intended to eradicate or manage pests that cause harm to crops. Farmers use pesticides to keep insects, fungi, and other undesirable organisms away from their crops.
2. Uptake by Plants: When pesticides are administered to crops, the plants may assimilate certain residues. These leftovers may be located on the plant surface or within the plant tissues.
3. Ingestion by Herbivores: Herbivores, including insects and animals that devour vegetation, ingest pesticide residues found on or within the plants. The pesticide content in herbivores may exceed that in plants.
4. Bioaccumulation: The concentration of pesticides tends to rise as we go up the food chain. Higher concentrations of pesticides are accumulated by predators that prey on herbivores.
5. Impact on Humans: The concentration of these compounds can be much higher in human tissues when humans eat higher trophic-level species, such as fish or livestock that have bioaccumulated pesticides. This is especially true of persistent organic pollutants, such as some pesticides, which the environment finds difficult to break down and remove.
6. Health Effects: Pesticides may be harmful to people's health. Long-term exposure to specific pesticides has been connected to several health concerns, such as malignancies, neurological impairments, and reproductive abnormalities.