Paper Topic:

Assignment: Risk Assessment

Risk assessment

Malathion is an organophosphate . It is used as a pesticide , a fungicide in large scale areas . It has been used for more than five decades in domestic gardens , in agricultural areas over crop fields in urban city areas over dense population centers as a pest control spray . Its greatest use occurs as a means to kill mosquitoes in the adult stage therefore Malathion can be termed as an adulticide . Its means of dispersal can be truck mounted sprayers or plane mounted sprayers , which can play over the areas while spraying

, therefore spreading the chemical in tiny droplets . The advantage of using the insecticide like Malathion is that the majority of the population areas can be rendered mosquito free , if areas are sprayed regularly at the times of the day when the mosquitoes are out and about Malathion for mosquito control (2007

The advantages of this pesticide don 't come without a price . If we have to decide about Malathion 's use in our community , we must ensure that it poses no threat or harm to the people and / or the environment

Malathion is a neurotoxin , if ingested leads to difficulty in breathing increased urination , rapid heart rate . If untreated , it can lead to non reactive pupils , increased acclimation , sweating and salivation and convulsions and coma . Other effects seen with Malathion ingestion are abdominal cramping , diarrhea and vomiting Malathion poisoning (2007 There have been observations of genetic damage , birth defects , increased animal defects in Malathion sprayed areas . Apart from this , Malathion poses a significant damage risk to the environment . According to one source that monitors the chemical hazards , Malathion poses a 50 human health effect hazard score , and a greater that 90 high risk of environmental and ecological risk hazard score Chemical pros hazardous ranking (2005

One might ask who is at the greatest risk of exposure , if this pesticide is allowed to be sprayed in the effort to control the mosquito problem When Malathion is sprayed in urban areas , the droplets are dispersed over a wide area and settle down on walls of houses , ponds and pools , in the gardens , on the flowers etc . From the beginning , the people hired to spray will be at greatest risk . The loading of the chemical into containers , transporting it , if not done with care has the risk of damaging the workers health . He can inhale the concentrated form . The compound has the potential to absorb through the skin and affect the organs

Children who play in the gardens will be at great risk . Playing in pools , the grass , walls all posses the risk of transmitting the chemical from their surface to the children 's hands

If Malathion is sprayed and somehow flows into the streams or any other drinking source , it can be very hazardous . When sprayed , Malathion is highly pure , but still contains more than 11 impurities Malathion-what is it and genetic health diseases (1996 . Once it settles into water it gradually changes into maloxon . This reaction speeds up during...

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