Before you pick up that can of bug spray or call someone to come to your home and spray for bugs, you should be aware of the dangers involved in using pesticides. Recent studies have produced two good reasons why we should never use pesticides in a liquid or aerosol form indoors in public buildings. Actually you shouldn’t use them in your homes either, but citizens of this country should have the right to do what they want in their own homes.

A recent study of people newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease has found that home pesticide use and exposure to pesticides is associated with an increased risk of developing the disease. The study, published in the Annals of Neurology, has found that people who are exposed to pesticides in their homes were 70% more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who had not been exposed. Exposure to pesticides used in gardens carried a 50% increased risk of the disease according to the study. You can read the full report of this study in the Technical Report, Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, Vol. 15, No. 7, July 2000.

More recently, the Surgeon General that came out with a study suggesting second hand smoke can be very hazardous to people and smoking should be eliminated in public buildings. Apparently there are a number of chemicals in tobacco smoke that can cause cancer along with other problems. Some of the chemicals in tobacco smoke are; acetone, benzene, chromium, cresol, methyl ethyl ketone, propionaldehyde, pyridine, resourcinol and toluene. All of these chemicals are also part of the inert ingredients in many pesticides. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) only require 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.”