Author Archives: octavian turner

Population growth: limited by pesticides?

The United Nations (UN) forecasts the world population to reach 9.3 billion by 2050. According to them, a 60% increase in food production will be required to sustain the population.

Solution: increasing pesticide use.

Unsplash Photo by @Arjun MJ (Ernakulam, Outdoors)

Unsplash Photo by @Arjun MJ (Ernakulam, Outdoors) Unsplash

Pesticides are chemicals that repel or kill weeds and organisms that affect plant growth.

The United States first introduced pesticides in the 1930s (during the Great Depression when the population was 2 billion) because of their considerable increase in yields. Since then, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1000 types of pesticides are used globally today.

Many people stand by organic products, which use minimal pesticides. There are several reasons why people opt out of consuming products grown with pesticides:

Many synthetic pesticides cannot be broken down by humans or animals. Because of this, they bioaccumulate (simply substances that become concentrated in living organisms) as body fat.

Pesticides also pose a huge threat to aquatic ecosystems. They contaminate ground and freshwater supplies used by wildlife, livestock, crops and people.

In 2020, Boedeker et al in the BMC Public Health Journal, estimated about 385 million people annually get pesticide poisoning.

These are only three reasons why people don’t like pesticides, but there are many more.

With that said, pesticides were first introduced to solve an issue in 1930 – an issue that will soon present itself again: food shortage.

There’s an interesting theory called the Malthusian Trap, which describes how increased agricultural production as a result of advanced agricultural techniques increases the population. But with a greater population, there’s a greater need for consumption, and that strains the food supplies.

Based on a 2017 study of European farming systems, if pesticides were removed from agricultural practice, there could be a 78% loss in fruit production, a 54% decrease in vegetable harvest and a 32% loss in grain yields.

Pesticides provide greater food output, increase farmers’ earnings, improve practice, prevent diseases, and allow cultivation in areas that would otherwise be uncultivable.

Simply, they allow farmers to grow more food on less land, raising yield.

According to a 2005 study by CropLife Foundation, without fungicides in the US, fruit and vegetable yields would decrease by 50-90%. For perspective, 40.3% of Canada’s fruit is imported from the US. This is similarly the case in Mexico, South Korea, and Japan, all countries with high populations. Without pesticides, these countries would experience significant food shortages due to their reliance on the US and their pesticides.

The lingering effects of Pandemic Screen time: a result of parental stress

Children’s screen time increased by 65% during the COVID-19 Pandemic and hasn’t changed since.

Unsplash Photo by @emily_wade (Child, Technology) Unsplash

In 2019 Dr. Henderson and her team at Permanente Californian Research Center began a longitudinal study on 228 children aged 4-12 across the United States. From July 2019 to August 2021, they found that prepandemic mean screen time increased by 1.75 hours per day after Dec 2020, and 1.11 hours per day after May 2021.

During the pandemic, with school and daycare closures, many parents and families were under tremendous amounts of social, emotional, and financial stress. Occupying kids with technology reduced parents’ stresses around having to constantly stimulate their children.

Researchers point out that screen time increased because children were spending more time at home instead of doing extracurricular outside and because schools transitioned online.

The graphic below illustrates Dr. Henderson’s findings, showing a clear increase in educational, recreational, and total mean screen time.

Longitudinal 228-child cohort study (ages 4-12) from July 2019 to August 2021 in the USA. Measuring Prepandemic (July 2019-Mar.2020), First Pandemic Period (Dec. 2020-Apr. 2021), and Second Pandemic Periods (May 2021-Aug 2021), and their Educational, Recreational, and Total Mean screen times. JAMANetwork

The long-term effects of high-screen time in children are still relatively unknown, but given that socializing and exercising are fundamental for healthy brain development in children, the pandemic undoubtedly has affected a generation of kids and youth.

More recently, in 2022, ABC news interviewed Dr. Heather Berlin, Neuroscientist and Clinical Psychologist at New York University, about the harmful effects of high-screen time.

“Consequences for kids’ of endless screen time” A 2022 ABC News interview with Dr. Heather Berlin, Neuroscientist and Clinical Psychologist at New York University. Youtube

While a lot is still unknown about screen time and how it affects children, the COVID-19 Pandemic gave impetus to necessary research at an unprecedented time in history. Research that could prevent further effects in the future and potential recurrence.

Blue Light – A Propagated Myth!

Unsplash Photo by Lukas Blaskevicius (Editorial, Technology) Unsplash

Device users are not a risk of eye damage due to blue light emitted from their devices, but they may be at risk of poorer sleep.

In 2019, Director Dr. David Ramsey of Ophthalmic Research at Lahey Massachusets Hospital and his study maintained that “many retail stores have ambient illumination twice as great…as [ones] iPhone, [and that] the sun yields illumination ten times greater!”

Light sources such as incandescence (light bulbs) and LEDs emit a broad spectrum of light, namely 400 to 700 nanometers (nm). Blue light is in the 400 to 450 nm range, carrying more energy than red light, raising concern.

Our retinas regularly absorb blue light emitted by the sun. For roughly 300,000 years, humans have sustained minor to no retinal damage: if it were damaging, we would have evolved optically blind.

Device intensities are much less than the sun and are regulated by manufacturers using light filters.

In 2019, CBC News conducted a Marketplace undercover investigation to debunk the concerns. In addition, Dr. SUNIR J. GARG, American Board Ophthalmologist and clinical researcher, addressed the myth.

“Why you don’t need blue light lenses: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace)” A 2019 CBC Interview with Dr. SUNIR J. GARG, American Board Ophthalmologist, about why blue light glasses are unnecessary. Youtube

However, in the Harvard study, Dr. Ramsey adds that using devices late at night mimics sunlight, restraining melatonin production, a sleep-inducing hormone. This stimulates your circadian clock (your body’s 24-hour sleep clock), tending to delay your sleep cycles, disrupting your sleep, and increasing drowsiness the following morning.

By stopping use of electronic devices 30 minutes before bed, you can increase REM (deep-stage sleep), reduce morning drowsiness, and maintain a consistent circadian rhythm, which in itself has its own benefits.

In short, research before propagating a supposed “scientific claim” and reduce your screen time before bed.

~ Octavian Turner

Blue Light – A Propagated Myth

Unsplash Photo by Ales Nesetril (Editorial, Technology)

Blue light from electronic devices does not damage the eyes, but it may damage your sleep.

The lie propagated is unfounded in science and was debunked. Those spreading it are misinformed and scientifically uneducated.

Light sources such as incandescence (light bulbs) and LEDs emit a broad spectrum of light, namely 380 to 700 nanometers (nm). Blue light is in the 400 – 450 nm range, carrying more energy compared to red light, which raises concern.

Our retinas regularly absorb blue light emitted by the sun, and for over 300,000 years has been the case and proven not to be damaging – otherwise, we would be blind.

In addition, device intensities are much less than the sun and are regulated by manufacturers using light filters.

According to Dr. Ramsey, a Havard Health Publishing Contributor, and Director of Ophthalmic Research at Lahey Massachusets Hospital, “many retail stores have ambient illumination twice as great…as your iPhone. [Yet] the sun yields illumination ten times greater!”

He also adds that using devices late at night mimics sunlight, restraining the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. This stimulates your circadian clock (your body’s 24 hr sleep clock), tending to delay your sleep cycles, disrupting your sleep, and increasing drowsiness the following morning.

By stopping using electronic devices 30 minutes before bed, you can increase REM (deep-stage sleep), reduce morning drowsiness, and maintain a consistent circadian rhythm, which in itself has its own benefits.

In short, do your own research before propagating a supposed “scientific claim,” and reduce your screen time before bed.

~ Octavian Turner