By Marty Yellin
The purpose of this article is not to necessarily alarm you but instead to make you aware of collective evidence from the National Research Council, the National Academy of Sciences, the EPA, the American Journal of Epidemiology, and other respected medical sources.
They all document evidence linking commonly used lawn products to increased odds of childhood leukemia, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, brain cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas of the colorectum and testes among children living in households where pesticides are used.
A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that home and garden use of pesticides can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times.
Herbicides and pesticides applied to lawns are tracked into the house where they remain for months in carpets, toys and house dust. Everyone in the house, especially children and pets continues to be exposed.
In addition, rainwater washes pesticides into our drinking water, streams, lakes, ponds, rivers, wetlands and ultimately into the sound and ocean. Homeowners may unknowingly contaminate their own well water by using pesticides on their lawns.
Studies have confirmed that fetuses and young children are particularly sensitive to the effect of pesticides because of their rapid growth and decreased ability to detoxify toxins.
Also, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology, exposure of parents (including fathers) to pesticides is associated with birth defects and infertility in the next generation.
We are talking here about commonly used pesticides found in any hardware store or applied by any non-organic lawn service. A complete listing of the pesticides and their affects can be found at: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/30health.pdf.
Some may wonder how these products can be so readily available and not controlled. To help answer that question, think about another product that is known to be the leading cause of lung and bladder cancer, yet is readily available over the counter, even in drug stores. That product is cigarettes.
Fortunately there are safe, effective, affordable alternatives to using toxic lawn pesticides. These alternatives make use of relatively safe synthetic and organic methods that have low toxicity and break down very quickly in the soil.
One of the best sources of information concerning how to achieve intelligent management of our lawns is the Northeast Organic Farming Association Connecticut Chapter’s information Web site on organic lawn care. They can be found at: http://www.ctnofa.org/OrganicLandCare/OLC.htm
_______
Marty Yellin serves as chairman of the Westport Conservation Commission. He received his Ph.D in biophysics from the NYU Schools of Medicine and
Science and is currently continuing studies of the impact of the environment on gene mutations.
Thank you, Mr. Yellin.
My daughter attended a Westport nursery school where 2,4-D and other lawn pesticides were used regularly; she and two other children who attended the were diagnosed with cancer within an 18-month period. While no one can be certain the lawn chemicals were the cause of the cancers, you’d have to be crazy not to wonder. Common sense, if nothing else, should tell us not to spray poisons where our children play.
For more information on lawn care pesticides in Connecticut, including a sobering study on pesticides in well water, check out ehhi.org.
TURF FIELDS Do not need chemicals Time to consider the advantage of, rather than the perceived problems of turf !
Wow almost like freakin out over nuclear power now that petroleum power is considered the most toxic thing to the earth
The reason turf fields don’t “need” chemicals is that they ARE chemicals.