Pestic. Sci. 1998, 54, 183È186

Book Reviews

Risk reduction : Chemicals and energy into the 21stcentury. ed. Mervyn L. Richardson, Taylor & FrancisLtd, London, 1996, 612 pp., UK£115.00.ISBN 0-7484-0398-1

The book carries introductory recommendations fromthe Duke of Edinburgh and Lord Lewis of Newnham,two men for whose views I usually have considerablerespect. On this occasion, I cannot share their enthu-siasm. The book is a compilation of papers from a widerange of authors and countries, loosely grouped under anumber of headings. The Editor admits that this formatmay lead to some duplication of material, but this is theleast of the problems.

The contributions are very variable in quality andthere is a tremendous disparity in their scope. On theone hand is a very sketchy survey of the possible alter-natives to fossil fuels as energy sources. On the other isa detailed account of the indirect determination of theoctanol/water partition coefficient from other molecularparameters by means of empirical equations. The con-nection of either of these with the central theme of thebook is tenuous. In fact, it is not easy to Ðnd a centraltheme. In the introductory matter, a clear distinction ismade between “HazardÏÈthe potential of a chemical tocause damage or injuryÈand “RiskÏÈa quantiÐcation ofthe hazard, involving the likelihood of it occurring andthe magnitude of the e†ect. This distinction, which isessential in any serious consideration of RiskReduction, is neglected by many of the individualauthors.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the chapter“Persistent Pesticide Pollutants in Crop ProtectionÏ.This is written from the perspective of a “developingÏcountry, Pakistan. After a cursory nod at the need forpesticides to maintain and increase food production, theauthors produce a catalogue of the hazards of pesticidesin the style, and with the objectivity, of one of the moreextreme environmental groups. We are told, forexample, that “it is a scientiÐcally known fact that verylittle of the quantity of pesticides applied to agriculturalcrops hits the targetÏ, and “Packaging of pesticides islargely unsafeÏ. There are two brief paragraphs of vaguegeneralities on the need to develop safer, more speciÐcpesticides and improved methods of application, and a

rather longer, but not very coherent, account of regula-tory approaches. This latter does contain some validcomments on the difficulties of drawing up and enforc-ing legislation in a “developingÏ country, but the blametends to be laid on venal politicians, proÐteering multi-nationals and the willingness of developed countries toexport their problems.

No-one disputes that in such countries a carefulbalance needs to be struck between the undoubtedbeneÐts of pesticides in improving the quality of life andthe hazards that may be inherent in their use, but anydiscussion requires a careful analysis of the latter, whythey arise, and an attempt to quantify the “riskÏ element.The authors correctly say that implementation of regu-lations needs more resources and trained sta† ; wherewould these be best deployed in the Ðrst instance? Ashort list is given of cases of pesticide contamination ;how did these arise, and, hence, what measures areneeded to prevent or minimise them in future? Theauthors appear to set great store by IPM; is this reallyapplicable to a peasant economy, and, if so, how? Onlyby tackling specÐc issues in this way is progress pos-sible ; a general polemic leads nowhere. In fairness tothe authors, such an approach would need a book of itsown, not a mere 42 pages.

This leads to a consideration of the book as awholeÈwhat is its purpose and at whom is it aimed? Itcannot be at the specialist ; few of the contributions dealwith a topic in any depth, reference lists are short and inmany cases refer only to other compendium pub-lications rather than to primary sources. On the otherhand, the composition and lay-out of the volume, andthe great variability in style and material content of theindividual contributions, will put o† the general reader.This is unfortunate, because there is valuable materialhere. A frequently mentioned topic is Agenda 21adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environ-ment and Development at Rio de Janiero in 1992, and,in particular, Chapter 19, covering the management oftoxic chemicals. There are excellent contributions givingthe background and implications of this, and the regula-tory approaches that are being adopted, particularly inthe EU. There are also useful contributions on the prac-tical side, in particular, two on the problems of identify-ing high-risk or highly susceptible individuals or groups,

1831998 Society of Chemical Industry. Pestic. Sci. 0031È613X/98/$17.50. Printed in Great Britain(

184 Book reviews

and of incorporating these into risk analysis. Such con-tributions could have formed the basis of a useful book,drawing on material from other contributions and dis-cussing, inter alia, the problems of adapting the regula-tory approach of the EU and the USA to developingcountries with peasant and marginal economies. Such abook would have been valuable both to those at presentworking in the chemical industry and to students inchemical engineering and related disciplines.

Finally, a comment must be made on the style of thecontributions. The proof-reading and author-checkingare, overall, of the low standard that now seems to beinevitable ; in some cases the printers have used com-pletely the wrong word, which leaves the reader Ñoun-dering. This apart, some of the contributions are verywell written, but others are less so. It may seem unfairto criticise authors who do not have English as theirÐrst language ; in fact, many of these have done anadmirable job, and others would have beneÐted from(and, I am sure, would have appreciated) Ðrm editing.However, it is apparent that they would be unlikely toreceive this, for the EditorÏs own contributions are theworst in the book in terms of style, grammar and punc-tuation. This is not just pedantry over split inÐnitivesand the like ; I gritted my teeth and ignored the singularnouns with plural verbs (and vice versa), the changes oftense within a sentence, the hanging participles, the sub-ordinate clauses divorced by a distance from their sub-jects, although I did wonder how a non-English speakerwould cope. However, a reader should not have to stopto determine what a sentence or paragraph actuallymeans ; still less should he, on occasion, have to admitdefeat. In case it is felt that I am dense or hypercritical,I o†er : “There is an accelerating aspect to the globalnature of these problems which is growing with theinternational requirement involved in the nature of oureconomy, which are inexorably interlinked with the vastincrease in our knowledge in development in healthtechnologies and techniques in the more adverse e†ectsto the natural environment and methodologies inenvironmental toxicology.Ï

R. E. Ford

The ecology of agricultural pests : Biochemicalapproaches, ed. W. O. C. Symondson & J. E. Liddell,Chapman and Hall, London, 1996, 517 pp., priceUK£75.00.ISBN 0 412 62190 8.

This most useful volume results from an internationalsymposium held at the University of Wales Cardi† inSeptember 1994. It consists of a series of peer-reviewedchapters which focus on the use of electrophoretic,immunological and molecular techniques for the study

of pest insect taxonomy, population genetics and popu-lation dynamics. Newer and more powerful techniquesto measure and understand the interactions betweenpests, their hosts, predators and other organisms nowsigniÐcantly advance our ability to study pest insectecology and that this subject has progressed rapidlysince the previous Systematics Association SpecialVolume (No. 39) on the use of electrophoretic tech-niques, is evidenced, by the large number of chaptersemploying molecular biological methods. Of the 21chapters in this volume, 10 use such methods eitherexclusively or in combination with other methods.

A good starting point is the very competent review byLoxdale and co-authors which examines the moleculartechniques which are of use to agricultural ento-mologists. These include the study of ribosomal DNA(rDNA) in phylogenetic studies, as taxonomic markersand for examining population structure and dynamics,studies on restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) and the use of the polymerase chain reaction(PCR). The review continues by detailing the detectionof microsatellite DNA using PCR, the study of mito-chondrial DNA (mtDNA) and RFLP analysis of popu-lation genetic structure, gene Ñow and mating systems.Perhaps most usefully of all, the review examines theuse of the random ampliÐed polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR).

A range of practical examples of the use of these tech-niques is presented. One of these examines the geneticrelatedness of weevil strains and populations and theinteractions between weevils and their endosymbiontsand parasitoids. Other examples include the use ofRAPD-PCR in a study of the toxonomy, distributionand ecology of slugs, the use of nuclear and mtDNA inbrown planthopper taxonomy, the use of mtDNAmarkers in a study of the population genetics andecology of the desert locust and the use of rDNA, PCRand RAPD-PCR in studies on introduced pests in NewZealand.

Two chapters by Hemingway et al. and Daly andTrowell emphasise the value of multidisciplinaryapproaches to the study of resistance to insecticides.Combinations of electrophoretic, immunological andmolecular methods can be used in species identiÐcation,resistance detection and monitoring and studies onresistance gene Ñow in populations.

Almost one-third of the volume is devoted to theserological analysis of predatorÈprey relationships. Anexcellent and extensive contribution by Greenstonereviews the use of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodytechniques and immunological assays including ELISAand concludes with a brief consideration of the recentdevelopments including the use of PCR techniques. Thesubject is brought right up to date in a number of con-tributions by the two editors, Liddell and Symondson.One of these considers the use of recombinant antibodytechniques as an alternative to costly and time-