Connecting Global Priorities Biodiversity and Human Health

• Oncogenic effects: tumour-forming effects (not
necessarily cancerous);
• Mutagenic effects: permanent effects on genetic
material that can be inherited;
• Neurotoxicity: poisoning of the nervous
system, including the brain;
• Immunosuppression: blocking of natural
responses of the immune system responsible for
protecting the body.
The direct negative effects of pesticides on
biodiversity and human health are numerous but
it should be recalled that there have also been
very tangible benefits to human health from
the use of pesticides and insecticides, such as in
malaria control programmes. However, insecticide
resistance in malaria vectors was also reported in
53 of 65 reporting countries around the world since
2010. The most commonly reported resistance is to
pyrethroids, the most frequently used insecticide
in malaria vector control (WHO 2014).
The development of resistance in diseaseproducing
organisms, or in vectors of human
disease, as a result of pesticide overuse is one
example where health problems can be combined
with ecological imbalance and the development
of large pest populations. The use of herbicides
in rural areas can also have associated negative
effects by reducing the availability of many
gathered foods and thus deprives communities
of important sources of dietary diversity. The
same is true of the negative effects of pesticides
on pollinators and the availability of honey in
rural areas. More generally, the use of pesticides
as a part of simplified agricultural systems, while
increasing the production of major staples, can lead
to production systems that are more vulnerable
to change and stress, resulting in much greater
fluctuations in yield, which renders farmers and
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Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health
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