Environmental Impacts: Organic vs Non-Organic Pesticides

The biggest difference between organic vs non-organic pesticide use is their environmental impact.

Ecological impact of non-organic pesticides

The globally-used Ivermectin, a non-organic substance orally given to animals that suffer from parasites, has severe side effects on other organisms. When excreted, the chemical bonds of the substance are still intact, resulting in the death of large numbers of animals living off animal excrement, such as flies and beetles, and sometimes even bees and butterflies.¹

In contrast to conventional pesticides, synthetic organic-certified pesticides are highly selective, meaning they only target a specific pest—not multiple ones. How?

Are organic pesticides any different?

Scientists identify a unique enzyme in an organism and create a chemical substance that only hinders this one enzyme from working correctly and thus kills the specific organism. For example, the chemicals might disturb the excitation transfer of the synapses, meaning they cause severe damage to the nervous system or hamper growth. But any organisms without this enzyme should not be damaged!  If you compare organic pesticides to non-organic pesticides, you will notice that the ecological casualties are much lower for the former.

Biopesticides also should not have adverse effects on native plants and, ideally, dissipate before coming in contact with the groundwater to hinder them from spreading to other areas.

All pesticides have active substances that take action against ‘pests’ or unwanted plants. And all active substances that are being used in the EU for plant protection products must be approved by the European Commission to make sure that they are considered safe for people before they reach the market. Biopesticides take it a significant step further.
 

Read more about pesticides in organic farming.