History of Insecticides | metabolic-pathway

The History Surrounding the Creatures of Our Plants: Insecticides

Back in the Ancient Days

2500 B.C.E. - The ancient Sumerians in Mesopatamia attempted to control unwanted insects such as mites and through sulfur.

750 B.C.E. - The infamous poet, Homer, depicts the use of wood ash spread across the land as a form of insecticide in Greece.

(Image Citation)

A photograph of wood ash. (Image Citation)

Of all the crops in the United States, cotton has the hightest rate of insecticide application!

500 B.C.E. - Mercury and arsenic compounds were used by the Chinese to control not only the pests lingering around ont their crops but to handle body lice.

324 B.C.E. - The Chinese utilize the use of ants on their citrus groves to control caterpillars.

This signifies the earliest use of IPMs.

70 C.E. - Pliny the Elder describes the usage of the gall from a green lizard in order to protect apples from the effects of rot and worms.

An early use of organic chemicals

900 C.E. - The Chinese utilize arsenic in order to control garden insects.

This usage of arsenic is referred to as the first use of inorganic stomach poison.

1300 - Marco Polo illustrates the usage of mineral oil against a skin disease created by tiny mites, called mange, on camels.

A photograph of a green lizard. (Image Citation)

Mange skin disease depicted on the body of dog. (Image Citation)

Early Modern Period

1763 - In France, ground tobacco was perscribed to kill aphids.

It wasn't until 1809 when nicotine was officially discovered as an insecticide against aphids.

1787 - Soap is beginning to be referred to as an insecticide and the emulsion of turpentine is suggested to not only kill but repel insects.

For futher clarification, turpentine is liquid obtained through the distillation of resin from trees - primarily pine trees.

1848 - Rotenone's first usage as an insecticide was against caterpillars consuming the leaves of various plants.

Did you know the largest users of pesticides in Europe are the French? Yes, the French utilize the same quantity of insecticides as Americans but on land 10 times smaller!

A photograph of ground tobacco. (Image Citation)

1867 - An unknown inventor comes to the discovery that a dye by the name Paris Green is capable of killing chewing insects.

A photograph of the newly discovered insecticide, Paris Green. (Image Citation)

1874 - Austrian chemist, Othmar Zielder, synthesizes DDT. However, the insecticidal properties DDT becomes reknowned for, have yet to be discovered.

An illustrated picure of Austrian chemist, Othmar Zielder, creating DDT. (Image Citation)

1886 - To control the large scale of insects in California, inorganic lime sulfur is perscribed.

1886 - Fumigation with the combination of hydrogen cyanide is introduced.

This duo led to the first case of insect resistance to a specific chemical.

The insecticide usage rate on a golf course is higher than the amount of insecticides used on a farm! Can you believe that?

Onward: The 1900s to the Present!

1901

1906 - The Federal Foods and Drugs Act (also commonly referred to as the Pure Food Law) was created by Congress.

This act prevented the manufacture, sale, and transportation of products interstate or international if they were deemed poisonous and unsafe or misbranded.
The act was replaced by FIFRA in 1947.

A comic taken from the June 09, 1906 newspaper spreading awareness of the newly created Federal Foods and Drugs Act. (Image Citation)

1910 - The Federal Insecticide Act is issued.

This act promised the safety of farmers and consumers from harmful chemicals by ensuring quality pesticides.
The act was replaced by FIFRA in 1947.

A photograph of harvesting farmers. (Image Citation)

1921 - 1922 - The first application of insecticides done through the use of a plane on a cotton field.

A photograph of pesticide application accomplished by a plane on a field. (Image Citation)

1938 - The insecticidal properties of DDT are discovered by Swiss scientist, Paul Hermann Muller.

A photograph of Swiss scientist, Paul Hermann Muller. (Image Citation)

1941 - 1942 - The chemical, DDT, begins to be used by farmers for their crops as well as by consumers in Switzerland to control human lice.

1942 - 1945 - The usage of DDT is beginning to spread to military soldiers and consumers around the world.

On June 05, 1945 DDT is perscribed for average civilian and agricultural reasons.
It prevented the spread of typhus during World War II.

Two products of DDT sold during this time period.

1938 - The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) is officially passed.

It allowed the Federal Food and Drugs Act to set limits on foods containing chemicals in order to protect the health of the public.

A photograph of an U.S. soldier spraying a woman to rid her of lice. (Image Citation)

1947 - The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) supercedes the Federal Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the Federal Insecticide Act of 1910.

This acts set the standards and safety guidelines for the environment and humans for pesticides that are on the market.
FIFRA also extends the coverage of the Federal Insecticide Act.
Its ammendment in 1964 required all products with pesticides to be labeled with warning signs and to contain a federal registration number

1954 - The Miller Ammedment to the Federal Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act is passed by Congress.

This ammenments extends the coverage of the FFDCA by requiring tolerances on all pesticides and by condemning any product whose pesticide residue level exceeds the limit set by the FDA.

1962 - Writer, scientist, and ecologist, Rachel Carson, publishes her book Silent Spring in which she brings public attention to the negative effects DDT in particular leaves behind in the environment.

Silent Spring brings further and extensive regulations concerning pesticides.

A photograph of the environmentalist, Rachel Carson. (Image Citation)

1970 - The Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, is created by the Executive Branch of the government.

Its responsiblity is to administrate FIFRA

The seal of the Environmenal Protection Agency. (Image Citation)

1972 - The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide ACT (FIFRA) is changed to the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA).

This act mandated that all pesticides be registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and to have the EPA classify these pesticides with either 'general' use or 'restricted' use.

1974 - The Worker Protection Standard is issued by the EPA.

It consists of a series of regulations that protect workers from pesticide exposure.
It was revised in 1992.

1979 - The first synthetic pyrethroids are introduced as insecticides.

For further clarification, these synthetic pyrethroids are the man-made version of the natural pesticide, pyrethrum which comes from the flower, chrysanthemum.
It reduced the application rates of insecticides and replaced the older, more harmful, chemicals.

A photograph of a Chrysanthemum, from which the natural pyrethrum is created from and from which the synthetic pyrethroid is based on. (Image Citation)