Harmful Effects of Pesticides:
What Pesticides do to our body
Studies link pesticide exposure to cancer, birth defects, stillbirth, infertility, and damage to the brain and nervous system (including Parkinson’s disease).
Cancers seen in children include: brain cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and soft tissue sarcoma. The same cancers are found in adults, as well as multiple myeloma, cancer of the pancreas, breast, prostate, kidney/bladder, eye, and colon-rectal cancer.
Pesticides can aggravate asthma and allergies.
What About Children and Pets?
Children are much more susceptible to health effects of pesticides than adults. At the same level of exposure they will absorb more pesticides, because they have more skin surface for their size, and take in more breaths per minute. Children’s ability to degrade pesticides in the liver and their immune system protections are not fully developed.
- Children and fetuses are most vulnerable to pesticide exposure due to their less-developed immune systems and because their bodies and brains are still developing. Exposure at an early age can cause developmental delays, behavioral disorders, and motor dysfunction.
- Pregnant women are more vulnerable due to the added stress pesticides put on their already taxed organs. Plus pesticides can be passed from mother to child in the womb, as well as through breast milk. Some exposures can cause delayed effects on the nervous system, even years after the initial exposure.
- Most of us have an accumulated build-up of pesticide exposure in our bodies due to numerous years of exposure. This chemical "body burden," as it is medically known, could lead to health issues such as headaches, birth defects, and added strain on weakened immune systems.
Your pets can be poisoned by lawn chemicals especially snail and other pest baits. Dogs are more likely to get a type of cancer called canine malignant lymphoma if their owners use lawn care chemicals.
Does Neighbors’ Pesticide Use Affect My Family and I?
Pesticide drift residues contaminate play equipment, sand boxes, home gardens, backyard pools and ponds, rivers, lakes, and streams. Pesticide drift from run-off, leaching and rain is a hazard to birds, bees, fish, and other wildlife, and to pets.
Pesticides used outdoors can get inside a home even if the windows are closed; and are, tracked in from contaminated soil. Pesticide residues, once inside the home, can remain for weeks, months or even years.
Pesticide drift poses health risks to neighbors and the community. Most at risk are children, pregnant women, asthmatics, people with allergies and chemical sensitivity, the elderly, and the ill.
Why Would Pesticides Be On the Market If They Were Not Safe?
Like alcohol and tobacco, pesticides are legal toxic products. Because they are legal does not mean they are safe.
Many people assume that the pesticides they buy, or those used by exterminators and lawn care companies are “safe”. They assume that the pesticides wouldn’t be on the market if they weren’t, and that the government is protecting them. Neither assumption is correct.
