Pets at Risk
Cats and dogs are more vulnerable to most of these disorders than humans, because they have more skin area in proportion to their body size, so they have a proportionally larger surface through which they can absorb poisons. Besides that, they lick their fur and their feet, ingested it directly into their mouths.
Children Most Vulnerable
Children are the most vulnerable because they have much thinner and more permeable skins than do animals, but like animals, they have a larger skin area in relation to the weight or volume of their bodies than do adults. Children’s immune systems are not fully developed, so they cannot protect themselves from toxins as well as an adult’s system can. Furthermore, as they play they roll around on grass, crawl on it, walk barefoot on it, and sometimes eat it. As a result they absorb more of whatever is on the grass, and they absorb it in more ways than adults.
Possible Cancer-Causing Agent
The rise in pesticide use parallels a rise in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NLH), a class of lymphatic cancers. What used to be a rare disease is now the fifth most common cancer in the U.S. In the twenty-four years between 1973 and 1997, the incidence of these cancers rose about 80% or almost 3% yearly.
A report by the esteemed National Cancer Institute of Bethesda, Maryland, listed eight “possible causes” of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, four of them dealing with what most people would think of as medical issues (such as genetics, viruses, and pre-existing medical conditions) and four with environmental factors. The first item on that second list was pesticides. In study after study, the first environmental risk factor or probable cause mentioned is pesticides.
Pesticide is Poison
That pesticides are dangerous is well-established (they were designed as nerve agents and are closely related chemically to the poisons used in the Nazi gas chambers), but the working assumption has been that there is a “safe dosage” below which they don’t harm us. According to this model, if a single low dose of a chemical appears to be safe, then ten or ten hundred similarly low doses would also be safe. But there are other substances and procedures for which this rule does not hold. Most of us know, for instance, that an X-ray isn’t dangerous but that you should limit the number you have in a day, a year, and a lifetime.
Despite the dangers, the pesticide industry is replete with lobbyists and so they spend lots of time and money “convincing” politicians that their product is completely safe. But numerous health and environmental studies have shown that to be false.
The best solution is to avoid these toxic agents whenever possible, and Hedahl Landscape has many non-toxic, organic applications that will keep your lawn and landscaping healthy and green, while keeping you, your children and your pets safe from harm. Call us today at 360-340-1141 for a free consultation.
Sources: planetnatural.com, epa.gov, www.panna.org
