Introduction

       We frequently use pesticides as a weapon to kill those annoying pests that threaten our homes and gardens. But how often do we stop to think of how hazardous they could be? The agricultural industry uses a large amount of pesticide that has negative effects on non-target subjects such as plants, animals, and even humans.  The active ingredient in Ortho Home Defense, our pesticide of interest, is Bifenthrim.  Bifenthrim is used widely in many areas to control insects in pine seed orchards, on trees shrubs and plants.  In 1995 46,863 pounds of Bifenthrin was used in agriculture.  Needless to say it is a widely used pesticide.  Therefore, if Ortho Home Defense is lethal to non-target organisms just in the low doses used around our homes, the concern is raised that the danger of such pesticides is only heightened at the level used on the agricultural level.

       There are several insects and other animals that live in the direct vicinity of plants that the pesticide is used on.  When such living organisms come in contact with a plant, or consume a plant that has the pesticide spray on it, the pesticide can then potentially penetrate into the living organism and adversely effect it.  When pesticide is sprayed, however, it does not only get onto the plant.  It also can land onto other plants that may not have been intended to get sprayed, and could potentially cause harm to these plants.  In addition, pesticides get into the soil, into water, and are dispersed into the air.  Therefore, if living organisms are coming in contact with contaminated soil, consuming contaminated water, or breathing in contaminated air, the pesticide could get into their system and potentially cause adverse effects.  One example of this is in the city of Blythe, CA.  There are several farms in the area around Blythe that heavily use pesticides.  Most of the citizens of Blythe are migrant workers that work in the farms and daily come in contact with these pesticides.  Coincidentally there is an abnormally high cancer, miscarriage, and birth defect rate.  There has been no research to validate the argument that these pesticides are causing these adverse effects, but if it can be proven that these pesticides can harm and kill non target plants, insects, and animals, is it too far fetched to believe that it can harm us as well?      

       In order to dismiss or solidify this concern, we have performed a series of experiments in order to test the toxicity of Ortho-Home Defense, a popular domestic pesticide.  For a comprehensive conclusion we tested four different subjects: Bacillus Cereus (a bacterium), Drosophila Melanogaster (a fruit fly), and 2 types of garden seeds (radish and burpee stringless bean).  Each experiment consisted of two groups: one exposed to the pesticide, and one that was not.  The general consensus derived from these experiments is that Ortho-Home Defense is noticeably toxic to non-target organisms.