Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that impact the immune system, in human there are cell called B-lymphocytes that when encounters a bacteria for example differentiates in to plasma cells which is responsible for antibody production to kill the bacteria, in multiple myeloma plasma cells looses control on its proliferation also looses the control on other cells proliferation and start accumulating in bones, as a result when the body encounters a bacteria it produces abnormal antibodies.
Another research studied farmers have shown that many materials used as pesticides such as methyl bromide which is the most frequently used in California and Iowa farms can cause another type of cancer which is prostate cancer, it is been known that male over 50 years old have a risk factor for developing prostate cancer, but male farmers have higher percentage to develop that cancer.
The health issues that are mentioned, are one of the problems that chemistry-industrialized farming causes, other potential problem that was recently the subject of interest is the effects on the environment, as the chemicals that are used are dumped into the soil, where many types of bacteria live in harmony with plants, where bacteria help to transform the air nitrogen into nitrates that the plants need to thrive, and the heavy use of pesticides can cause these beneficial bacteria to deteriorate, it is also know that this bacteria is needed to decompose the dead animal and plant parts which help restore soil fertility.
Another environmental concern is the water, as these chemicals have high solubility in water, that these materials can be picked by rainwater into a nearby lakes or streams and can contaminate drinking water, and there has not been any studies conducted about the long term effects of drinking such water.
One solution could be made is the switch to what is called the “organic farming”, in organic farming farmers uses both the industrial technologies and machines plus the ecological knowledge in food production so instead of using chemically prepared pesticides they use a naturally occurring ones, where these natural pesticides would not cause diseases like the chemical pesticides does, business keepers where concerned about the amount of production and whether the switch could impact their business, so it has been suggested that without the chemically intensive agriculture we will not be able to produce the same amount of food with the same quality, but according to UN environment program reports, it has been shown that not only we will improve the food production qualitatively and quantitatively, but also we will have better environmental result, such as better soil fertility, retention of water, and resistant to drought.
Organic farming practices where done in Africa for several years showed yield increase for over 100%, “the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world may be far higher than many had supposed.” (UNEP, “Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa ,” 2008).
Due to many bad effects of the chemical uses in farming on human health, and it bad impact on the environment for the long ran, it should be mad illegal to use chemically prepared or synthesized pesticides and fertilizers in farming, and business should encourage the switch to the organic farming because of the numerous benefits of these practices in addition to the sustainability of the amount of food production.
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