Photo: Salt Cedar and Giant Cane, Rio Grande River, Big Bend National Park. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull
Herbicides & Their Use in the USA: History and Impacts
Commentary and summaries of the research prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita of Science Education, University of Montana Western, September 2020.
The term “pesticides” covers all the chemicals used to kill plants, insects, and other animals. The terms “herbicide, Insecticide, rodenticide, and fungicide” refer to pesticides that are designed to kill various subsets of pests.
Except for a few sections, the following sections cover herbicides, the chemicals used to kill grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees., rather than other pesticides. Over the decades since World War II, many different chemicals have been created, many that are selective (kill specific types of plants) and others that are broad spectrum (able to kill a wide variety of types of plants).
The section on "Environmental Impacts of Pesticides" includes both herbicides and the other chemicals used to kill insects, fungi, or mammalian pests. The history of both forms of chemicals is similar. Many chemicals in use today evolved out of the development of petrochemicals during World War II. Today the companies that develop herbicides are typically the same companies that develop other types of pesticides. And the reality is that both types of chemicals are often sprayed either directly on, or adjacent to, the foods we eat and the streams and rivers from which we get our drinking water.
I am not a chemist, and my knowledge of herbicides and other pesticides is limited. But I have attempted to summarize the research on herbicide use, as clearly as possible.
Sections on Herbicides and other Pesticides:
Herbicides & Their Use in the USA: History and Impacts
Commentary and summaries of the research prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita of Science Education, University of Montana Western, September 2020.
The term “pesticides” covers all the chemicals used to kill plants, insects, and other animals. The terms “herbicide, Insecticide, rodenticide, and fungicide” refer to pesticides that are designed to kill various subsets of pests.
Except for a few sections, the following sections cover herbicides, the chemicals used to kill grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees., rather than other pesticides. Over the decades since World War II, many different chemicals have been created, many that are selective (kill specific types of plants) and others that are broad spectrum (able to kill a wide variety of types of plants).
The section on "Environmental Impacts of Pesticides" includes both herbicides and the other chemicals used to kill insects, fungi, or mammalian pests. The history of both forms of chemicals is similar. Many chemicals in use today evolved out of the development of petrochemicals during World War II. Today the companies that develop herbicides are typically the same companies that develop other types of pesticides. And the reality is that both types of chemicals are often sprayed either directly on, or adjacent to, the foods we eat and the streams and rivers from which we get our drinking water.
I am not a chemist, and my knowledge of herbicides and other pesticides is limited. But I have attempted to summarize the research on herbicide use, as clearly as possible.
Sections on Herbicides and other Pesticides: