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by author Michael R. Lyon, MD
The motto "Better Living Through Chemistry" back in the 1960s never applied well to pesticides like DDT.
This "miracle" chemical would quickly eradicate pesky garden bugs but was deemed so safe to humans that television propaganda showed children happily playing while being directly sprayed overhead!
Years later, DDT and such other organochlorine pesticides as dieldrin and heptachlor were found to be highly detrimental to both wildlife and humans and very persistent in the environment. Although banned over 20 years ago, organochlorines still heavily contaminate soils: food crops grown on them today possess significant levels of toxins.
Organochlorine pesticides have serious hormone-disrupting effects. By mimicking the effects of estrogen, they may confuse cellular communications and contribute to an increased risk of certain cancers. They’re also neurotoxic. Long-term exposure may result in diminished cognitive performance and permanent brain damage. Small amounts affect the developing fetus, breastfeeding infants and children.
Although these compounds have been banned in North America, they’re still widely used around the world both in agriculture and for mosquito control.
According the United Nations, about 30 percent of pesticides marketed in developing countries do not meet international quality standards and are either banned or are heavily contaminated with toxins and pollutants. "They pose a serious threat to human health and the environment," the UN now declares.
Because organochlorines do not biodegrade, they enter watercourses and drift across upper levels of the atmosphere, raining down upon every corner of the earth. They accumulate in the environment and can be found in the brains and fatty tissues of all Canadians.
But pesticides allowed in North America may actually pose a far greater risk to human health than do the banned organochlorines. Some 600 million pounds of pesticides are used annually here, many of them organophosphates. These nerve poisons kill bugs by shutting down and destroying their primitive brains. Prototypes for the organophosphate pesticides in use today were first developed in Nazi Germany for agricultural purposes but were too toxic and are now classified as weapons of mass destruction.
Fatal to Children
Organophosphates are cheap to manufacture, extremely effective and biodegrade far more readily than organochlorines. But laws to protect us from the deadly effects were based upon flawed science which considered only the immediate and most obvious effects on healthy adults, not on children or the developing fetus. In 1992, the US Environmental Protection Agency demonstrated that individual food items commonly have high enough levels of organophosphates to cause acute illness in children, even though the level of pesticides in those foods falls well within legally allowable limits.
According to recent data from the US Department of Agriculture, children are routinely exposed to levels of organophosphates that adversely affect their cognitive performance--levels allowable for agricultural practices! In spite of such evidence, record quantities of organophosphates are in use today.
Of even greater concern are the more subtle and gradual effects of insecticides on the brain over time, especially in children. Organophosphates work by attaching to critical enzymes on nerve endings, destroying vital molecules. Because brain cells are for life, repeated doses of even minute quantities result in cumulative and permanent damage.
Some communities (such as Halifax, NS and Toronto, ON) have legislation which will phase out pesticides from city schools, parks, golf courses and homes. Learn more about how you can protect yourself and your loved ones from the hazards of our pesticide-contaminated world.
US, Canada Ban Pesticide
The US Evironmental Protection Agency has told the pesticide industry to voluntarily stop making diazinon, the nation's most popular lawn and garden insecticide. Canada has followed suit.
Used since the 1950s, the organophospahate bug killer poses "unacceptable risks to consumers, especially children." Overexposure could result in serious health problems.
Indoor use products are already being phased out; lawn and garden use varieties won't be made after next year. Many agricultural uses are delisted but Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency will permit certain applications.
Dispose of pesticides with your public health hazardous waste unit. Tell your hardware store to do the same.
Dr Michael R. Lyon is the Director of Research and Education at the Oceanside Functional Medicine Research Institute on Vancouver Island, BC.
Source: alive #223, May 2001
