“The EPA's Science Advisory Board concluded in 1990 that, when compared with dozens of other risks, pesticides presented one of the country's more widespread and severe environmental problems."

A nationwide report has found that pesticide use in or near U.S. schools have sickened more than 2,500 children and school employees over a five-year period.   The pesticide poisoning has resulted from pesticides being sprayed in schools or on nearby properties, and includes both insecticides and herbicides.

Why are children at more of a risk than adults?  There are many reasons.  Children put their toys and other objects in their mouth and they often crawl on the ground and come in contact with pesticides.   Children often wear fewer clothes resulting in dermal poisoning by many toxicants.  Children breathe differently than adults.  A one-year old child will breath 50% more air each minute relative to their body weight than adults do.  This, of course, gives them the opportunity to inhale more pesticides.

Children will pick up pesticides at home, at school, from their food and from being around pets who have been treated for fleas or ticks.  If they live in an agricultural community where pesticides are heavily used, children are in even greater danger.

Pesticides are a mixture of chemicals used to kill, repel or otherwise control various pests, including insects, mites, rodents, birds, fish, weeds, fungi and other perceived pests.  Pesticides are comprised of a number of different compunds, including the “active ingredient” and “inert ingredients” as well as other contaminants and possible pollutants.

Active ingredients are the only components of the pesticide listed on the label.  These are the chemicals that kill and repel the pests.  Active ingredients also contain synergists, such as piperonyl butoxide (PBO) to help the pesticide work more effectively.

The inert ingredients are the carrier or sticking agent in the pesticide and may include solvents, stabilizers, surfactants, preservatives, sticking agents, spreading agents or defoamers, depending on the need of the product.  Some inert ingredients are more toxic than the active ingredient in the product and often make up the largest percentage of ingredients in a pesticide product.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and rodenticide Act (FIFRA) only requires manufacturers to list the active ingredients on the label.  They allow the “inert” ingredients to be a trade secret leaving the consumer and the applicator unaware of the possible danger they are exposed to.  Many inert ingredients are considered to be “hazardous pollutants”, “extremely hazardous”, “suspected carcinogens” and “occupational hazards.”

Piperonyl butoxide, a very commonly used synergist, can be toxic to the liver and a possible human carcinogen.  Pesticides that contain pyrethrin and pyrethroids are pesticide products that most often use piperonyl butoxide.

Contaminants and other pollutants are byproducts of the manufacturing process and they can often contribute to a pesticide’s toxicity.

Metabolites are the products that result when a pesticide breaks down by being exposed to air, water, soil, sunlight or other environmental factors.  Often the metabolites are more toxic than the original product.

The suffix –cide, literally means to kill.  Pesticide, suicide, homicide, genocide all have one thing in common  - death.  Are there any safe pesticides?  Emphatically, no there are not.  Can pesticides be used safely?  Yes they can if they are used by people who are knowledgeable about the pesticide they are using and if they use the product carefully and if they have respect for the environment where the pesticide is going to be placed.  Unfortunately, more often than not, the respect portion of the equation is lacking.

Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those who have allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities or other immune, respiratory, or neurological impairments are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of pesticides.

How are pesticides introduced into the body?  There are three main points of entry.  Inhalation of the fumes of some pesticides is very common and can severely compromise a respiratory system.  Pesticides are commonly absorbed by the skin (dermally) and occasionally ingested (orally).  In the latter, it is often children who swallow pesticides carelessly left out in the open.  Pets will frequently ingest rodenticides carelessly used by a pest control operator or a homeowner.

Consider the following incident that took place in the 1950s that was perpetuated by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).  It would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic and handled so stupidly.

On the Asian island of Borneo they were having a terrible problem with malaria.  Bureaucrats in WHO, a United Nations organization, decided to save the island by spraying it with DDT, a very dangerous pesticide.  Malaria, as we know, is a mosquito-borne disease that is very prevalent in tropical countries where most of the people live in poverty.

The WHO sprayed DDT all over the island killing many of the mosquitoes. It also killed many other organisms including parasitic wasps.  These wasps control certain caterpillars that feed on the thatched roofs of people’s homes.  Without the wasp, the caterpillars multiplied and many roofs were destroyed.  The DDT also coated many insects normally eaten by lizards, causing many of the lizards to die.  The lizards were eaten by cats, which also died.  Without the cats, the rat population multiplied causing an outbreak of typhoid and the plague.  It is obvious there was a severe domino effect from the spraying of DDT over the island.  The WHO, in order to correct this misadventure, parachuted in several planeloads of many thousands of feral cats they collected.  The ones that didn’t land in the ocean and drown settled down on the island as official rat catchers.

This story clearly illustrates the fact that the misuse of pesticides can be extremely hazardous with numerous possibilities of tragic endings.

There has been some talk of bringing back DDT in order to curb malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa.  This is not a good idea.

Mosquitoes are very adaptable insects and studies have shown that they can develop a resistance to DDT extremely quickly.  It may only take three generations, which can be obtained in a single year.  When the DDT is applied to the area the second year, the mosquitoes will survive while insects that prey on them will die.  This is borne out in a study done in New York several years ago.  A swamp was sprayed with a pesticide for eleven years.  A mosquito count was done prior to the spraying and again after it was completed.  They found out there were more mosquitoes after eleven years of pesticide spraying then there were before.

There can be no doubt that pesticides, including herbicides are associated with a number of public health risks.   There are about 110,000 non-fatal human pesticide poisonings each year in the United States. In addition, pesticides have been linked with such human diseases as breast cancer, and extensive exposure can have adverse respiratory and reproductive, including asthma and sterility.  Other problems can include blurred vision, dermatitis, reduced heart rate and even coma and death. Do all pesticides cause these problems?  In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 90 pesticides as possible or suspected carcinogens (cancer causers).  For farm workers who are exposed to pesticides more often then most other people, the problems can be severe.  They have been diagnosed with excessive rates of certain kinds of cancer, including cancer of the stomach, cancer of the testes, prostrate cancer and brain cancer.  Female farm workers have an increased rate of cervical cancer.

Where are pesticides used?  Along with being used in agriculture and on our public lands, commercial pesticide applications are frequently made to schools, offices, stores, theaters, restaurants, hotels, government buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, airplanes, buses, and almost all public buildings.  Additionally private citizens apply pesticides to their homes, gardens, lawns, and trees and/or hire a professional company to make such applications in their home or yard.

According to Beyond Pesticides / Health Care Without Harm; of the active ingredients (or synergists) in the 37 most commonly used pesticides reported in a recent survey of hospital pesticide use, 16 are likely, probable, or possible carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 15 are linked with adverse reproductive effects, 22 are neurotoxins, 18 are linked with kidney/liver damage, and 28 are sensitizers or irritants.

The fact is that the pesticides we use and that are used in and around our homes, schools and businesses are far more dangerous than any of the bugs they are used to control.  It is a known fact that the more pesticide you are exposed to the higher the risk you have of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Are you going outside and want to use a mosquito repellant? Try to avoid using repellants containing DEET.  Every year one-third of the population uses insect repellants containing DEET, available in more than 230 products with concentrations up to 100%.  The conclusion of one scientist who has conducted 30 years of study on pesticides, demonstrates that frequent and prolonged applications of DEET can cause neurons to die in regions of the brain that control muscle movement, learning, memory and concentration. There are very effective alternatives to DEET repellants and we should use them.

According to an article in Epidemiology: 12 (1):20-26, January, 2001, one of the largest studies of pesticides has found that pesticide use around the home can more than double the chance of a child developing neuroblastoma, which is a condition that accounts for about 10% of all childhood tumors.  This is a very serious cancer as approximately 60% of children over age 1 who develop neuroblastoma do not live 3 years even when receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

A similar study in Cancer: 89: 11, 2000 has shown that children who have been exposed to household insecticides and professional extermination methods within the home are three to seven times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared to children who have not been exposed to pesticides.  These two articles clearly demonstrate why we should never allow pesticides in schools or day-care centers.

Do you have weeds outside that need spraying?  According to Organic Gardening, July, 2000, Roundup is not your best choice for an herbicide.  Thousands upon thousands of acres in the U. S. are sprayed annually with nearly 50 million pounds of Roundup.  Tests on Roundup show adverse effects in all standard categories of toxicological testing, including medium-term toxicity, long-term toxicity and genetic damage.  Sperm production in rabbits was diminished by 50 percent when they were exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, in research conducted at two universities.  New evidence suggests that Roundup may cause cancer. The study, published in Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis (vol. 31 pp. 55-59, 1998), found that an unidentified chemical in Roundup caused genetic damage in the livers and kidneys of mice exposed to the herbicide.  In California, where pesticide-related illness must be reported, Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, is the most common cause of pesticide illness in landscape workers.

Is your exterminator safe from his pesticides?  Not really.  According to Occupational Environmental Medicine, 56(1):14-21, 1999, male pesticide applicators are at a significantly increased risk of developing prostrate cancer than folks who do not apply pesticides regularly.

Another study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 71(1), July 1983, found that pesticide applicators employed for 20 or more years had nearly 3 times the risk of developing lung cancer and had twice the risk of developing brain cancer.

I believe it is safe to say that pesticides are far more dangerous than most pests and we have to continue to develop alternative ways of dealing with them.  Some pest control companies realize this and treat accordingly. Others still prefer the old “spray and pray” method of pest control.  Spray pesticides and pray it kills something.   Never let an exterminator spray pesticides in your home, school or business as it is never necessary.  There are many non-toxic alternatives that are much safer for you and your family.