Children love fruit. Fruit juice, fruit sauce, fruit jams, and fruit snacks. What could possibly be more wholesome? As parents we'd rather hear the words "Can I have an apple" than "Can I have some candy". And nothing beats a family outing to the pick-your-own farm. Unfortunately, those wholesome, colourful fruits come with a nasty element - pesticides.
Because of their small size, children consume up to six times more produce and hence pesticides, than adults (1). In 1999 it was estimated that American children aged one through five ate at least 20 different pesticides on any given day (2). Assuming that most of the produce consumed in Canada during the winter months is American, our children are eating as much pesticide as their American cousins.
Another food-related consideration is that of making food look good to the consumer. Crops such as peaches, pears, and strawberries are usually treated with more pesticides so as not to appear bruised or tainted (3). Also in the attempt to make commercial (supermarket, fruit stand) produce look more appealing, produce is often fumigated so as not to spoil in transport. It may be fumigated again when it reaches the supermarket so its shelf-life and consumer appeal is lengthened.
Food is not the only way children (and adults) are exposed to pesticides. We tend to treat our lawns and gardens with weed-killers. Most weed-killers are herbicides. These chemicals are also used to treat parks, athletic fields, and school lawns. Lawn and garden maintenance workers may tell you that they are treating the area safely but emergency room doctors like Dr. Kelly Martin of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal points out that 20 % of those with symptoms of toxic pesticide exposure are children who have crawled on a "safely" sprayed lawn. Dr. Martin also points out that children exposed to pesticides have a 5 or 6 % increased chance of developing leukemia (4).
Not only are children's small bodies and developing nervous systems at risk from pesticides in general, but their proximity to the ground is a major source of exposure. Pesticides tend to be more concentrated closer to the ground - the space inhabited by small children - than in the often ventilated space above that - the space of adults (5). The space of adults is that which is usually tested, therefore, most pesticides are deemed "safe".
Children are also exposed to toxic pesticides through insect sprays. Although safer bug sprays are beginning to appear on the market for home use, many professional pest controllers are still using highly toxic sprays and treatments. Pest treatments can seep into carpets and upholstery, even beds. A study published in the January, 1998 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives known commonly as The Big Bird Report found that significant amounts of pesticides like Dursban could be found in children's stuffed toys a week after spraying. Plush toys act like sponges and soak up pesticide residues, becoming potentially harmful (6). They can also migrate from a treated room to an untreated one.
Pesticides are prevalent in the modern world and hard to avoid. Even banned pesticides like DDT still appear in measurable amounts in ground and water samples. DDT hasn't been used agriculturally in North America since 1971 but it can still be found in animals and even humans living in remote areas that have never been treated with DDT. It accumulates in the nervous system and muscles. It is still manufactured in the United States and sold to countries that haven't yet banned the substance. It can still be used legally in the U.S. if it is a small part of another pesticide (7).
Avoiding pesticides is difficult if not impossible. Even organic food is susceptible to the pesticide residues in the ground, water, and air. However, it is still your best bet for safer food because no new pesticides or fumigants have been have been added to it while it is growing or during its shipping. Try to buy locally and seasonally. Although strawberries in February may be hard to resist they tend to come from countries where pesticide regulations may differ from ours.
Children love the park and playing in the grass but beware. Try limiting the time they spend playing in the grass or encourage them to play on the swings instead. Less practical is the suggestion of moving to a place where municipal parks and athletic fields are not treated with pesticides. Several municipalities in Canada including Halifax, Nova Scotia and Toronto, Ontario may soon be pesticide free.
Avoiding insect and other pest treatments can be difficult. If you live in an apartment and know that either yours or your neighbour's home is being sprayed, you might want to put your pillows and child's plush toys in a plastic bag or move them out of the home until the treatment is finished. If you must treat your home, use the most natural method you can. If you have a say, hire the pest company that uses the least amount of toxic pesticides in their work.
The best thing you can do is to stay informed and be vigilant. Join a local pesticide activist group. Write a short pamphlet on the dangers of lawn care pesticides and distribute it to your neighbours and local politician. Have your apartment neighbours sign a petition against pesticide use and send it to the property management. Get newsletters and other information from groups like Mothers and Others Against Pesticides (American) or The Sierra Club of Canada. Be active.
There are about 50,000 pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides that are approved for use on human food. No single pesticide sticks out from the rest.
This herbicide is also known as Killex, Agrotect, Rider, Lawn-keep, Super D Weedone, Weed B Gone, Weedone, and other weed 'n' feed mixtures. 2,4-D is popular for lawn and garden treatments because it attacks broad leafy plants (like dandelions) but leaves grass alone. 2,4-D is also approved for use on food crops to rid the area of weeds and strangely enough, in forestry (8). As it tends not to bioaccumulate but is excreted, 2,4-D is considered to be safe. However, 2,4-D is suspected of stimulating cancer development, delaying fetal development, and promoting mutations (9).
Also known as Lorsban, Diazanon, and Melathion, these common insecticides kill by interfering with the nervous system. Lowered sperm counts, reduced fertility, and lower hemoglobin are a few of the health risks associated with this product (10).
1. Lyon, Catherine, Lecture: Econutrition, Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, June 21, 2000.
2. Sheppard, Jane, Growing Up On Chemicals - Our Children's Toxic Environment, www.healthychild.com/database/growing.html, 2000.
3. Harte, Holdren, Scneider, Shirley, Toxics A - Z, pg. 124. University of California Press, 1991.
4. -----, CBC Marketplace - Health and Safety, www.cbc.ca/market/files/health/lawnchem.html, Oct. 12, 1999.
5. Sheppard, Jane, 1998.
6. -----, Stuffed Animal Toys Absorb Dursban, www.bandursban.org/science/bigbird.html, 1998.
7. Rapp, Doris, M.D., Is This Your Child?, pg. 278. William Morrow, New York, 1991.
8. Harte, Holdren, Schneider, Shirley, pg. 281.
9. -----CBC Consumers - The Pesticide Debate, http://cbc.ca/consumers/indepth/lawn/lawn.html 2001.
10. Ibid.
Copyright 2001 - 2003, Kelly Reith BA RHN
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