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A balancing act

The danger of pesticides to humans and the environment depends upon the pesticide and its mechanism for pest control. Some factors that determine a pesticide's potential harm are its toxicity, specificity

in its targets, and how long it remains in the environment before it breaks down or degradesBreak down.

Pesticides can enter nontarget plants, insects, and other organisms in several ways. Pesticides do not always stay where they are put down. Wind or rain can carry the pesticide into bodies of water. There, it can affect sea life and contaminate water. It can move through or leachThe movement of dissolved chemicals with water that is percolating, or oozing, downward through the soil. into the soil. Leaching is the movement of dissolved chemicals with water downward through the...

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1. Introduction
2. Pest control
3. The good, the bad, and the pesty
4. A balancing act
5. Experiment 1 - Natural versus Synthetic: How do different types of pesticides compare against a pest?
6. Experiment 2 - Moving through Water: How can pesticides affect nontarget plant life?
7. Design Your Own Experiment