Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 08:42:18 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
Environment
Dear Lyndon, thought you might like reading an article from the LYCOS Environment News Service entitled: Healing Our World: Weekly Comment - By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
Toxic Play: Overuse of Pesticides Puts Children at Risk
They’ve
lost it, lost it,
and
their children will never even wish for it -
and
I am afraid that the whole tribe’s in trouble,
the
whole tribe is lost -
because
the sun keeps rising and these days
Nobody
sings.
--
Aaron Kramer
Scientific literature is filled with references to the serious affects that pesticide poisoning is having on our children. Yet abuses abound, and parents still seem largely unaware of the dangers and are slow to take the extra steps necessary to protect their children from this menace that permeates our lives.
| Children of today are alive during a time of unprecedented potential exposure to toxic substances. The journal "Environmental Health Perspectives" reported in June of 1998 that children of today are at risk of exposure to about 15,000 synthetic chemicals, most of which never existed 50 years ago. Most of these chemicals are found in household products that are dispersed widely in the child’s environment. Over half of them have never been tested for their potential toxicity. |
 (Photo courtesy J. Giuliano) |
There are a number of reasons why children are at a greater risk than adults of being affected by the toxins in our world.
Children have greater exposure potential than adults. Compared to their
body weight, they eat more food and drink more water than adults, increasing
their exposure to pesticides on food and in water. During the first six
months of their lives, children consume seven times as much water per pound
of body weight as do adults. From ages one through five, they eat three
to four times more food per pound of weight than do adults. The air intake
of an infant at rest is twice that of an adult per pound of body weight.
Maxwell Farms Regional Park (Photo courtesy Regional Parks Department County of Sonoma) |
Children play close to the ground, increasing their exposure to toxins in pesticides, inorganic fertilizers and other soil contaminants. If your children play soccer or football on playing fields maintained by your city government or school district, it is likely they come into constant contact with pesticides. Many playing fields with ood looking white lines for games use diesel fuel or pesticides to kill the turf before applying the gypsum powder to make the line. As much as 100 gallons of diesel fuel may be applied to an average size playing field to make lines. Parents demand well manicured playing fields, but many maintenance personnel are ignorant of the environmental consequences of their actions in complying with this demand. |
The metabolism of a growing child is immature and not able to metabolize, detoxify and excrete toxins the way an adult body can.
Environmental toxins easily disrupt the extensive growth and development taking place in a child’s organs and nervous system. Damage that occurs to the developing lungs, brain, immune system and other organs can be permanent and irreversible.
Since children have many years of life ahead of them, they have more
time to develop chronic diseases that are triggered by exposure to environmental
toxins at an early age.
Playing soccer in Sonoma County (Photo courtesy Regional Parks Department County of Sonoma) |
Although children living near agriculture centers are at the greatest risk, urban children face similar threats since airborne pesticides can travel many hundreds of miles. Samples taken from vacuum cleaner bags in urban households nowhere near farms have been found to contain measurable pesticide residues. |
Pesticides are tracked into homes on shoes, clothing and on pets. Although the exposure to such residues may be small for an adult, children who spend much of their time on the floor and putting their hands in their mouths risk considerable exposure. Since carpets are not exposed to weather and other factors that break down some pesticides in the environment, these poisons can persist for many years. Home, lawn and garden exposure to pesticides makes up the majority of contact that children have with these toxic substances.
Conventional drinking water treatment DOES NOT remove pesticide residues. And a pesticide will be found contaminating ground water long after it is banned. A soil fumigant banned in California in 1977 is still found in groundwater in quantities that can cause a health risk.
Most pesticides are not water soluble, so washing food does little good. A 1995 survey of 76 jars of baby food from grocery stores found 16 pesticides in eight brand name products.
Parents must educate themselves about the myriad sources of pesticides
in our culture and not assume that their children are considered when practices
are being adopted by government. Specifically, parents can:
- Feed organic foods to their children whenever possible. Insist that everyone wipe their shoes on a thick doormat before coming into the home. Clean the doormat often. This can reduce the toxins tracked into the house by 60 percent or more. Better yet, maintain a "no pesticide" household.