Going Organic Can Shield Children From Pesticides
by Marla Cone, LATimes.com
Switching
to organic foods provides children “dramatic and immediate” protection
from pesticides that are widely used on a variety of crops, according
to a study by a team of federally-funded scientists.
Concentrations
of two organophosphate pesticides – malathion and chlorpyrifos –
declined substantially in the bodies of elementary school-age children
during a five-day period when organic foods were substituted for
conventional foods.
The two chemicals are the most commonly used insecticides in U.S.
agriculture. More than 2 million pounds were applied to California
crops in 2003.
(Click here to access the original article.)
Malathion and Iowa
Use of malathion by farmers in Iowa and Minnesota has recently been linked to an
increased risk of one type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Malathion is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the
United States and throughout the world.
In Iowa, malathion is frequently used to spray against mosquitoes.
Shown to be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in vision loss,
reproductive and learning problems, immune system disruption and other negative
health effects in human and animal studies, damaging to non-target organisms,
and containing highly toxic impurities, malathion has a legacy of serious
problems.
Did you know that malathion is also used to kill head
lice? Yeah, put that on your kids' heads and see what
happens. According to this report on the KWWL website
out of Waterloo, malathion has been used so frequently against
head lice that the lice are building up a resistance to it and it is
now only 17% effective. Combing through you child's wet hair with
a fine-tooth comb is much more effective.
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