Natural Insecticide - Investigatory Project

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St. Joseph’s School – Mactan Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City A.Y 2012-2013 INVESTIGATORY PROJECT PROPSAL:

NATURAL INSECTICIDES

Submitted to : Mrs. Maila Juanita Valderama Subject Teacher Submitted by : Babe Jay Senerpida Mark Bryan Suralta Allyssa Loi Dungog Rogelynn Aying Louie Jay Durano Mary Joyce Sabanal Dave Christian Arellano Carlo Labayan Marle Tatud Gellan Abraham Reusora

Yr. IV – St. Seraphin

2 Table of Contents Title

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Chapter I. Rationale

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Statement Of the Problem

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Statement of the Hypothesis

6

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

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Definition of Terms

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Chapter II Related Literature and Studies

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Chapter III Materials

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Procedure

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Bibliography

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3 CHAPTER I RATIONALE Today, we can clearly see the slow killing of Mother nature. Destructions are everywhere. Air, water and even land pollution. We have no escape. As students, we should be aware of what is happening in our environment and society and do something, in our smallest little ways, to help preserve our only home. We are given an Investigatory Project or an IP in our Physics class to somehow lessen our environmental problem. Our assigned project to be investigated is the Homemade or Natural Insecticide. We all know, that our Ozone layer is getting thinner and thinner every time because of the chemicals we use daily. Now, to lessen the problem in our Ozone layer, we are going to study about the use of natural insecticides that are CFC-free. We can not only protect and help preserve our environment, we can also be sure that our plants and crops are healthy too. Here, we will give you an overview of what a Natural Insecticide really is. A Natural Insecticide is a Chemical or biological substance designed to kill or retard the growth of pests that damage or interfere with the growth of crops, shrubs, trees, timber and other vegetation desired by humans. This is the best substitute to synthetic insecticides that can harm our planet. A synthetic insecticide can contain poisons and toxins that are not found in a natural insecticide. These can be harmful to living things other than the insects they were intended for. Synthetic chemical insecticides often contain ingredients that kill beneficial insects. These insects may be bees that pollinate fruits and vegetables. They may be ladybugs or butterflies, which are also helpful to have in a garden. A natural insecticide will probably leave beneficial insects safe. Organic gardening is accomplished by avoiding the use of laboratory-made fertilizers, growth substances, antibiotics, or pesticides. This means using nature's tools to grow your plants, fruits, and vegetables. It's a way of being kinder to the earth. Using natural insecticides is a part of that process and has grown in popularity. If done properly, it costs less. If you learn to grown or produce your own insecticides, you're also aiding the eco-

4 system by not putting man-made chemicals into the dirt and air. You can help reduce the negative effect on the ozone layer by doing your part to help nature. In our modern technology today, you can look on the internet for the most trusted and safest ways of making a Natural Insecticide. There are many alternatives in making a natural insecticide, in our group, we have decided to use a Liquid soap recipe way of creating a natural and organic insecticide. Soap sounds harmless enough. We wash our bodies with it, wash our dishes with it, and blow bubbles with it. What you need are Spray bottles, Biodegradable liquid dish soap, Lemon or orange essential oil, Cooking oil, Baking soda, Garlic, Chili powder, Water. It is as easy as that! And it is cheaper than the synthetic ones.

Statement Of The Problem The environmental impact of pesticides is often greater than what is intended by those who use them. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including nontarget species, air, water, bottom sediments, and food. Though there can be benefits using pesticides, inappropriate use can counterproductively increase pest resistance and kill the natural enemies of pests. Pesticides can contaminate unintended land and water when they are sprayed aerially or allowed to run off fields, or when they escape from production sites and storage tanks or are inappropriately discarded.

Pesticides can contribute to air pollution. Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas, potentially contaminating them. Weather conditions at the time of application as well as temperature and relative humidity change the spread of the pesticide in the air. As wind velocity increases so does the spray drift and exposure. Also, droplets of

5 sprayed pesticides or particles from pesticides applied as dusts may travel on the wind to other areas, or pesticides may adhere to particles that blow in the wind, such as dust particles. Ground spraying produces less pesticide drift than aerial spraying does. Pesticides that are sprayed on to fields and used to fumigate soil can give off chemicals called volatile organic compounds, which can react with other chemicals and form a pollutant called tropospheric ozone. Tropospheric ozone is a greenhouse gas and initiates the chemical removal of methane and other hydrocarbons from the atmosphere. Pesticide residues have also been found in rain and groundwater. Studies showed that pesticide concentrations exceeded those allowable for drinking water in some samples of river water and groundwater. There are four major routes through which pesticides reach the water: it may drift outside of the intended area when it is sprayed, it may percolate, or leach, through the soil, it may be carried to the water as runoff, or it may be spilled, for example accidentally or through neglect. They may also be carried to water by eroding soil. Factors that affect a pesticide's ability to contaminate water include its water solubility, the distance from an application site to a body of water, weather, soil type, presence of a growing crop, and the method used to apply the chemical. The use of pesticides also decreases the general biodiversity in the soil. Many of the chemicals used in pesticides are persistent soil contaminants, whose impact may endure for decades and adversely affect soil conservation. Degradation and sorption are both factors which influence the persistence of pesticides in soil. Depending on the chemical nature of the pesticide, such processes control directly the transportation from soil to water, and in turn to air and our food.

In this project, we aim to help reduce and stop this poisoning to species, organisms and other elements that are threatened including the risk of human health because of synthetic insecticides.

6 Statement of the Hypothesis A hypothesis is an educated guess or proposition that attempts to explain a set of facts or natural phenomenon. It is used mostly in the field of science, where the scientific method is used to test it.

In this experiment you will examine how biopesticides compare to a synthetic pesticide. The two natural pesticides are a spray made from chili peppers and one made from garlic. These are commonly used among gardeners as repellents. With chili, it is the hot chillies that make the most effective repellent. Garlic's strong odor can also act as a repellent. With the synthetic insecticides, look for one that works against general pests, such as aphids, caterpillars, beetles. Evidence of these pests can be seen in the holes they bore or bits of leaves that they have munched. Aphids will leave a sticky residue on the leaves. The synthetic pesticide product will better prevent pests from harming the plants than the biopesticides.

Theoretical Framework/Conceptual Safety defines much of the home life, and pesticides do an impeccable work of endangering it. With the influx of insecticides and anti-pest products in the market today (and the easy access that comes with the trade), exposure has just become a looming prospect. One fact of life is that apart from your family, you’re sharing your home with a diverse array of pests: ants in the cupboard, wasps in your sunroom, termites in the cabinets, or maybe bugs having their own little party in your garden. Your first instinct, of course, is to run to the store and get the most effective pesticide out there. But little do you know that the dangers of pesticides are much bigger than the ones you’re trying to solve. These pesticides – 4.5 billion pounds of which are used annually as reported in 2001 – tend to spread easily, stay suspended in the air, and

7 contaminate the areas in and out of your home, adversely affecting your children, pets, and the lush plant life around you. (Dr. Mercola) Through the arrangement of documented formulations of over 260 natural pesticides, we discovered that the traditional knowledge applied in pest control is diverse and rich. Not only can it be used to prevent various crop pests, it can also be used to prevent various diseases in livestock, poultry and fish. Apart from producing the same effects as synthetic pesticides (contact killing, poisoning, fumigation), it also has other unique effects (antifeedant effect, repellent effect, ovicidal, infertility, etc.). For example, it interferes the growth of pests, causes prolonged larval stages, resulting in the increase in adverse natural effects; it can reduce the ratio of pests; and it reduces the population of insects over winter. (Xu Rui, Popular Science of Pest Control)

A number of studies conducted in the U.S. and abroad have shown that botanical pesticides, when used properly, can be as effective as synthetic pesticides at killing a broad spectrum of pests both in domestic and agricultural settings. Botanicals use essential oils from plants known to have natural insecticidal properties, such as chrysanthemum, garlic, sweet flag and clove. Not only do these natural avengers zap the bad bugs, they are also harmless to humans and the environment. (FoxNews.com)

Unlike synthetic options, biopesticides are naturally occurring products derived from materials like plants and microorganisms (think bacteria and fungi). In most cases, biopesticides are less toxic than conventional pesticides, making the food safer for people who eat it and those who grow it. Biopesticides generally affect only the target pests, compared to broad spectrum, conventional pesticides that may cause harm to birds, insects, mammals, and other organisms. They often

8 decompose quickly, and reduce the likelihood that pests and plant pathogens will develop resistance. ( Pam Marrone)

Definition of Terms

9 CHAPTER II Related Literature and Studies This research study cited articles which are relevant to the present investigation. It is composed of related literature and studies both local and foreign, which contain facts and information on the research problem at hand. It also provides explanations and logical connections between previous researches and the present work. Insecticides have been used for centuries to fight unwanted pests. There are several natural (plant) insecticides that have been widely used, although compared with modern synthetics the plant substances are relatively weak. One benefit of a plant insecticide is that many of them are biodegradable. More than 1500 species of plants have been reported to have insecticidal value, and many more exist, but two products, rotenone and pyrethrin, have been economically important. Rotenone. Before World War I, agricultural nations were ignorant about the plants that contain rotenone. Rotenone was a mysterious and an unidentified fish poison (barbasco) of the deep forests of Sounth America were natives collected roots of a viney shrub, Lonchocarpus nicou, and threw the crushed roots into small streams and pools. The chemical in the root stunned the fish and caused them to float to the surface, where the fish were easily collected. Humans were not poisoned by consuming rotenone, which is only toxic in very large doses. Use of rotenone as a fish poison became widespread in the 20th century, and it was immortalized in 1954 when a boat captain just happened to have a rotenone on board to stupefy a “monster” in Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The South American rotenone-bearing, leguminous plant is not known now from the wild. Nowadays, Lonchocarpus is cultivated by hand labor in tropical regions of Brazil and Peru. In the Far East, particularly in Java and Sumatra, a closely related legume, Derris elliptica, which also contains rotenone, was used as an arrow poison. Derris, which has been grown commercially in Puerto Rico, has

10 lower yields of rotenone than does Lonchocarpus. Rotenone also occurs in the legume genus Tephrosia. Rotenone is found in resin ducts, which occur in the phloem and xylem. The root is dried to 20% moisture content and then shipped to buyer countries. Rotenone is a terpene; it was applied as a spray on fruits and row crops, even several times before harvest time, because the chemical residue do not linger. It is a potentially lethal toxin for aphids, cockroaches, houseflies, corn borers, Mexican bean beetles and mosquitoes.

Pyrethrin. Pyrethrin comes from a perennial daisy of the genus Chrysanthemum(not the cultivated mum). The biologically active chemicals are esters, which occur in the flower heads. Action of a Pyrethrin is a contact poison, which paralyzes the insect victim, usually with 90 seconds. Normally the poison is administered in emulsion or dust form; as a dust it can be used as a diatomaceous earth. The primary physiological reaction of the toxin is that ventral vagus ganglion shows vacoulization. Acute toxicity in mammals is relatively low, because the pyrethrin esters are converted in the stomach into nontoxic compounds. Green Pesticdes. Green pesticides, also called ecological pesticides, are pesticides derived from organic sources which are considered environmentally friendly and causing less harm to human and animal health, and to habitats and the ecosystem. In agroecology, pesticides are evaluated for minimal adverse environmental effects. Biocides include germicides, antibiotics, antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, antiprotozoals and antiparasites. Pesticides typically come in the form of sprays and dusts. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the increase in agricultural productivity in the 20th century. The classification of insecticides is done in several different ways. These includes: Systemic

11 insecticides, Contact insecticides, Natural insecticides,Plant-Incorporated Protectants(PIPs), Inorganic insecticides, Organic Insecticides, Mode of action.

Systemic insecticides are incorporated by treated plants. Insects ingest the

insecticide while feeding on the plants. These are absorbed by plants or animals

and move to untreated tissues. Systemic or translocated herbicides move within the

plant to untreated areas of leaves, stems or roots. They may kill weeds with only

partial spray coverage. Systemic insecticides or fungicides move throughout treated plants and kill certain insects or fungi. Some systemic insecticides are

applied to animals and move through the animal to control pests such as warble

grubs, lice, or fleas. Some pesticides only move in one direction within the plant,

either up or down. Knowing what direction the pesticide moves will help guide

your decisions. For example some insecticides only move upwards in plants. If

applied to the root zone, it will travel throughout the plant, but if

applied to the leaves it will not move throughout the plant. Some pesticides are

considered locally systemic. These will only move a short distance in a plant from

the point of contact.

Contact insecticides are toxic to insects brought into direct contact. Efficacy is

often related to the quality of pesticide application, with small droplets (such

as aerosols) often improving performance. Insects are killed when sprayed directly

or when they crawl across surfaces treated with a residual contact insecticide.

Weed foliage is killed when enough surface area is covered with a contact

herbicide. Natural insecticides, such as nicotine, pyrethrum and neem extracts are

made by plants as defenses against insects.

12 Nicotine-based insecticides are still being widely used in the US and Canada

though they are barred in the EU. Natural pesticides are pesticides that are made

by other organisms usually for their own defense, or are derived from a natural

source such as a mineral. Most people believe that natural pesticides are safer and

more eco-friendly than man-made pesticides and while this is mostly true it is not

always so. For example, nicotine is a natural pesticide in tobacco

leaves, and the highly addictive component of cigarette smoke, but is in fact much

more toxic than most modern synthetic pesticides.

Plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) are insecticidal substances produced by

plants after genetic modification.[4] For instance, a gene that codes for a

specific Baccilus thuringiensis biocidal protein is introduced into a crop plant's

genetic material. Then, the plant manufactures the protein. Since the biocide is

incorporated into the plant, additional applications, at least of the same compound,

are not required.

Inorganic insecticides are manufactured with metals and

include arsenates, copper compounds and fluorine compounds, which are now

seldom used, and sulfur, which is commonly used. Inorganic insecticides are of

mineral origin, mainly compounds of antimony, arsenic, barium, boron, copper,

fluorine, mercury, selenium, sulfur, thallium, and zinc, and elemental phosphorus

and sulfur. It is sometimes used as the toxic agent in ant poisons and for the control

of thrips.Organic insecticides are synthetic chemicals which comprise the largest

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numbers of pesticides available for use today. An organic insecticide is a pesticide

that uses only natural components to kill bugs. In many cases, organic materials

used to repel insects are also called organic insecticides. This is not a true

insecticide, but rather a repellent. Organic insecticides can be made from a number

of different materials, but what many people most appreciate about them is that

they are a relatively safe form of pest control in most cases. It is possible to make

an organic insecticide from a number of different substances. It is also possible to

buy them commercially. It should be noted that many organic insecticides are

meant to only target a certain species or a few different species. Therefore, those who have a variety of insect species they wish to treat will likely need more than

one type of organic insecticide. Mode of action—how the pesticide kills or

inactivates a pest—is another way of classifying insecticides. Mode of action is

important in predicting whether an insecticide will be toxic to unrelated species,

such as fish, birds and mammals.

Although the pesticides and particularly insecticides used in organic farming and organic gardening are generally safer than synthetic pesticides, they

are not always more safe or environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides, both can cause harm. The main criterion for organic pesticides is that they are naturally derived, and some naturally derived substances have been controversial. Controversial natural pesticides include rotenone, copper, nicotine sulfate, and pyrethrums. However, restrictions on natural pesticides have tightened and as of 2005 rotenone, a dangerous natural pesticide, was not allowed for US organic farmers, and rotenone was not allowed under the California Organic Foods Act of

14 1990. Phytoalexin elicitor glucohexatose has been called a green pesticide, as has a new class of insecticides called spinosad which shows "remarkable selectivity" in destroying harmful pests and leaving beneficial insects alive.

CHAPTER III Methodology Oh those pesky bugs! If you are a gardener, you know how difficult it can be to deal with the insects that love to eat your plants. And what about the environment? Most of us know that traditional chemical pesticides (or insecticides) are unhealthy for us and the planet, but are generally a widely used tool to combat garden pests. There are some easy and inexpensive natural pesticides you can make at home to help you win the battle of the bugs and be eco-friendly. Here are a few ideas to use in your own home and garden. Materials Pepper (Hottest of its kind) Liquid Soap Water Others

Blender Strainer Empty Container Procedure 1.) Liquid soap is a great alternative to toxic chemicals for both indoor and outdoor plants. 2.) Mix 2 tablespoons of liquid soap or dishwashing liquid with 1 quart water,

15 and pour into a spray bottle. Most indoor household plants tolerate this natural pesticide well. Spray leaves, stem and topsoil to deter insects from coming back. Aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and mites are all affected by this soap remedy. 3.) Prepare your blender. 4.) Pour at least two glass of water on the blender. 5.) Add two tablespoons of liquid soap. 6.) Add at least five cut pepper. (Depends on the size of your pepper, but the spicier, the better.) 7.) Pepper and garlic are both natural insect repellents and will help to repel Japanese Beetles, borers, leafhoppers and slugs. Garlic also deters larger pest like deer and rabbit. 8.) Start to blend. 9.)

Prepare your container and strainer.

10.) Filter all the solid particles from the liquid. 11.) Put your liquid product on your prepared container. 12.) Seal your product. How To Test A. 1.1. Prepare two plants with the same characteristics. 1.2. Spray one plant with a synthetic insecticide and one plant with the created natural insecticide. 1.3 Observe the two plants for one or two weeks and record your observations. 1.4 Write down your conclusion.

Week 1/Day 1 Observations Plant A Plant B

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Prepare at least two insects (e.g. spiders, cockroaches) for your experiment.

2.2

Spray one insecticide on the first insect and one on the second insect.

2.3

Observe what happened to your insects.

2.4

Record what you have observe.

2.5

Come up with a conclusion.

17 Bibliography

Dr. Mercola’s Research Xu Rui’s Study Pam Marrone Article http://www.onearth.org/blog/natural-pesticides-large-scale-farmers-turn-to-saferproducts-to-keep-their-plants-healthy http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517766,00.html http://www.mercola.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_pesticide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticide http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Insecticides/in dex.html http://www.livestrong.com/article/497135-discovery-of-the-natural-healthbenefits-of-black-pepper/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_pesticides http://science-in-farming.library4farming.org/Insects_2/Insecticides/InorganicInsecticides.html http://www.wisegeek.com http://www.livingwithbugs.com http://www.arbico-organics.com http://www.brighthub.com Dr. Mercola’s Research Xu Rui’s Study

Pam Marrone Article