More and more medical research links pesticides to health issues. These include
- Cancer, including breast cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leukemia, brain tumors, and childhood cancers.
- Reproductive issues, including male infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects.
- ADHD, autism, and other learning, behavioral, and developmental issues.
- Parkinson’s disease and related neurological conditions.
- Asthma and other allergies.
- Autoimmune diseases.
Sadly, it’s hard to avoid exposure, even if you want to. Pesticides can drift in your windows or over the fence from your neighbor’s yard. In fact, research indicates that pesticides can drift for miles. You (and your dog) can track pesticides into your house, where they don’t break down easily. Pesticides get into house dust, and children ingest them when they put their fingers in their mouths.
Pesticides don’t just go away after you use them, either. In the soil, the pesticides used in landscaping usually have half-lives of weeks, meaning they can remain active in the soil for months.
Don’t take our word for it. Read what medical experts have to say about the risks of pesticides. When the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups caution us about pesticide exposure, it’s time to listen.