There’s a lot of people asking that question these days, thanks to the growing interest in pesticide-free food and mounting concern about its dangers. According to the evidence, a normal meal contains a mix of pesticides and their resulting breakdown products.
The Pesticide Action Network is at the forefront of educating the public to raise awareness on chemical exposure. Their new database on pesticide residues lists such contaminants as carcinogenic, endocrine (hormone disrupting) neurotoxic, or those toxic to reproduction or development.
Even the most organic farmer or followers of a totally organic lifestyle cannot escape these toxins entirely. With air and water currents and weather patterns, all carrying residue, even certified organic produce cannot be totally pesticide free. This list, however, helps one discern the lowest levels.
The most alarming factor is that one group, organophosphates, pollutes the food supply in terrifying proportions. Neurotoxins, they are responsible for farm worker poisonings. Endosulfan, which is marketed under a few varieties, leads the list as most highly present on commercially grown tomatoes. Like DDT, it is long lasting in the environment. As an endocrine disruptor, even in low levels during pregnancy, is has been linked to birth defects, autism and male reproductive damage. Higher levels which are most common among farm workers include nausea, headache, seizures, vomiting and even death.
Currently, there are no regulations in place that requires toxicity testing of any of these compounds before they are sold for public use. Under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976, only 5 out of the 80,000 synthetic chemicals have been banned. Once a compound is released for use, it is extremely difficult to get it taken off the market. Lindane, for example, is a chemical found in children’s lice shampoos, is currently banned in over 50 countries, yet the United States still permits its use. Atrazine, a chemical in popular lawn chemicals such as Weed-B-Gone, is one of the most prevalent substances found in water and soil, animal, aquatic life and humans. It is banned in Europe.
It is time for chemical reform. We can no longer be blind or placated by false promises and lies from Dow, Monsanto, Bayer and others. These substances affect us NOW. With alarming instances of birth defects, cancer and environmental impact, there is not a minute to waste.
If you’re into eating local food, you have to see this trailer for the movie “FRESH”. If you’re NOT into local food - watch it anyway!
Joel Salatin, of PolyFace Farm is featured in this film, as is another inspiration for the growing local food movement, Will Allen of Growing Power. Russ Kremer a hog farmer in Missouri, nearly died from an antibiotic resistant staph infection after being gored by one of his animals. These men, along with hundreds of other across this nation are in the forefront of the sustainable agriculture movement and local food.
Food production in this nation has long been a sort of secret society. We all blindly accepted that the groceries we bought at our local store were good for us. Ads on TV and radio promised its goodness and purity. Chemicals were our friends, weren’t they? Why, good old Monsanto and others promised us they were safe, there was no danger to our children or pets, and yes - we could even spray the stuff on our vegetable gardens and eat the veggies right away! Now, however, the spotlight is ON them, their dirty little secrets are being found out.
The public is getting smarter and starting to realize that corporate America isn’t and hasn’t been acting in their best interests. That’s why farmer’s markets have become so popular. People get to know where their food comes from. They get to meet the farmer (or his/her representative) each week. Their food has a ‘face’ so to speak. A connection has been made.
Get informed about what you eat! All is NOT what it seems!
Produce on grocery store shelves may look good, but there’s a dirty secret behind it. Most of it has been grown using chemical fertilizers. The earth in which it has grown has been treated with herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, too. It has also been genetically engineered to resist treatment with weed killers like “Round-Up” . What you’re getting in the store is loaded with potential toxins. This food has traveled an average of 1500 miles to get to your plate and has probably - without your knowledge - been irradiated: treated with low levels of radiation to kill off bugs and prolong storage.
The food at your local farmer’s market is a lot different. Raised in soils amended without chemicals, the food is healthier from the get go. Studies have shown that the nutritional value of food has actually declined in the last 50 years due to poor soil management. Farms have for the most part abandoned the age-old practice of crop rotation, thus stressing out the soil and depleting nutrients.
If your buy meat from your local farmer’s market, most vendors do not treat their animals with steroids or antibiotics. Do you really want to eat steroids (growth hormones) or expose your kids to more antibiotics?
Check out this link for farmer’s markets near you: LocalHarvest.org
Another plus is that your money is staying in the community. You are also helping your local farmer stay in business, rather than sell his/her land to a mega farm or to a developer. We DON’T need more shopping malls!
You can further reduce your toxin load by taking a regular detox bath. This assists your body in fighting off illness and enhances the removal of toxins. Be clean - inside and out!
Chemicals enter your body in a number of ways. Hair coloring is one of the most common methods. Most women color their hair once or twice a month. This gives a dose of toxins which is absorbed through the scalp. Chemical hair coloring and even some of the so called ‘natural dyes’ contain large amounts of carcinogenic compounds. Additionally, these chemicals also damage hair and lead to many scalp problems and infections.
If you maintain a natural lifestyle, trying to limit yourself to toxins and chemicals - does it make sense to use chemical hair dyes? No…..
Henna has been used for thousands of years. This plant-based dye, in it’s purest form, contains no chemicals. It also adds shine to the hair, bringing back the luster lost from chemical hair dyes.
So instead of heading to the beauty shop for your dose of chemicals, why not try natural henna instead? Your hair will probably thank you!
The environment is tops on everyone’s list. Browse the ‘new and notable’ tables at your favorite book store and GREEN jumps out at every turn.
You can help introduce your friends and family to environmentally friendly living, too.
Give them a GREEN GIFT of organic personal care, 
or bath salts, 
or perhaps some
mustard bath. 
or a detox seaweed bath 
Henna hair coloring 
is a great way to lessen a loved one’s exposure to possible carcinogens in chemical dyes.
You can promote sustainability, independence and encourage environmentally friendly business in impoverished nations by purchasing fair trade gifts. 
Artisans worldwide produce crafts and are paid a fair wage. This also helps preserve ancient crafts which are rapidly disappearing as populations move to urban areas.
Another great way to introduce environmentally friendly living is to get a GIFT CERTIFICATE to start a friend sampling some environmentally responsible products. Often people are a bit hesitant to give up what they know, but once they try things, they find they are doing TWO things at once: saving the environment and being more environmentally responsible themselves!
This could be toward the purchase of a Sun-Mar composter 
or perhaps a rain barrel…, 
or even for a composting toilet 
or maybe for a portable solar powered battery charger, 
which is great for travellers!
We also have unusual 
art and 
gifts like original art 
by local Virginia artists.
There are many ways that you can spread the word about sustainable, green and helping the environment!
Americans spread MILLIONS of tons of toxic lawn chemicals in their yards every year. Obsessed with eliminating every pest, every weed, they ignore the fact that they are exposing their children and pets to POISON.
Advocating non-chemical remedies, I have never put chemicals down, and never will. I know too much. I’ve never really understood the obsession Americans have about having the perfect lawn. My lawn is green, I mow it, and that’s IT. Why poison yourself, your kids and the eco-system for a lawn?
I worked for Lowe’s in the garden center for 5 years. Each week I’d watch thousands of pounds of poison go out the door in this one store. People were fanatical about their lawns and didn’t even think about what they were doing! A common, and especially toxic product, 2-4-D is found in the popular brand WEED-B-GONE.
Ironically, part of my job was to sell lawn care products. I hated it. It went against everything I believe in. I’m an environmentalist and I jokingly refer to chemicals as being ‘against my religion.’ I would always opt for pitching the lowest toxicity remedy.
One day a man came in with his three children in tow, their approximate ages being 7, 5 and 3. He wanted Diazinon. I said it’s been banned for almost 10 years now, but the replacement was Triazicide. We walked over to where the bags were stacked and I answered his questions.
During the conversation, one of the kids started smacking the bag of Triazicide with her hand, like petting a big dog on the head. The father jumped forward, yanked the kid’s hand away and shouted,
“DON’T TOUCH THAT, it’s POISON!”
I wanted to reply in a calm but sarcastic voice…..
“Yes, it’s POISON and you’re going to take it home, spread it on your lawn and then your kids and dog are going to go out and play in it!”
Children are especially susceptible to illness resulting from pesticide exposure. Instead of rehashing the articles, I’ve included links below.
ALL lawn chemicals like TRIAZICIDE, WEED-B-GONE are DANGEROUS - PERIOD! (no, you can’t use them on your veggie gardens, folks!)
Not only are these substances dangerous for children, but they are dangerous for adults, pets and the environment. It’s time to end the love affair with toxins because the health of your family - and the planet - depends on it.
You can help speed the detox process by taking a detox bath on a regular basis, doing juice fasts and getting more exercise and having a regular massage. This will help eliminate toxins from your body.
WHAT’S ON YOUR LAWN?
Is the health of your lawn more important than the health of your children?
Every single aspect of our lives has in it artificial components of plastic, out-gassing (fumes) or toxins of some sort. The sad part about this is that the entire population of this world had no say - and is totally unaware that manufacturers, food producers, agribusiness and technology has contributed to it every day.
Chemicals surround us. Our computers are made from plastics which release chemicals into our environment. If we’ve sworn off caffeine, and drink decaf instead, chances are we’re getting a good dose of chemicals from the decaffeination process. Got that suit back from the cleaners? Guess what it’s been cleaned with? Dry cleaning fluid=chemicals.
If your kids play sports like football or soccer they’re probably rolling around on turf treated with herbicides, pesticides and other toxic lawn chemicals. Additionally, children are especially at risk for health-related illness from pesticide residues.
Think you’re safe at work? Your company probably has a contract with an extermination service and sometimes you’re even sitting at your desk when the guy comes through with the little sprayer tank! Millions of Americans go to work in environments chocked full of chemicals: manufacturing facilities with dust and fumes from chemicals, heavy metals, plastic compounds, cleaning solutions, paints, glues and pesticides. Even if your job does not put you in direct or daily contact, you are still at risk.
WHAT TO DO?
DETOX and eat the cleanest diet that you can. Make every meal a high quailty one of fresh (organic) foods, filtered water. Replace the toxins you introduce into your body in your own home with organic personal care products.
Make every day count!
An article appeared in Reuters on children on medication for ADHD having hallucinations. Why is this no surprise?
The use of Ritalin and its cousins, all nervous system excitants, became the drug of choice during the 80s and 90s. Ritalin is one of the most over prescribed drugs on the market today. Although certain criteria should be met before assuming a child truly is ADHD, many physicians and parents are too quick to assume their child truly is ADHD, when all that may be needed is a ‘cleaner’ diet.
We’ve all seen kids bounce off the walls after eating high doses of sugar, haven’t we? Why is it so strange to some that FOOD may actually be the cause of supposed ADHD in your kid?
The typical American diet is loaded with sugar and chemical additives. Browse any supermarket aisle containing lunch items and you will find a disturbing array of ‘food-like substances’ designed for convenience for Moms packing kids’ school lunches. Food marketed as ‘healthy’ or a ‘good, nutritious lunch for your kids’ or ‘healthy snacks’ often contains more artificial ingredients than real, actual food. Even so-called healthy yogurts: low or no fat varieties of one popular brand, Yoplait, have a scary list of artificial ingredients.
Don’t fall for the claims of fast-food purveyors, either. Every parent.., no.., make that every person, should read ‘Fast Food Nation’ by Eric Schlosser if you eat fast food. Morgan Spurlock’s book, “Supersize Me”, which came out after the academy nominated movie, gives a behind-the-scenes look at McDonald’s and the fast food industry. I guarantee, you’ll never feel the same about eating out after reading these two books.
ADHD is a real condition due to the brain’s neural transmissions and actual brain development. Rather than assuming your kid IS actually ADHD and is not just being a ‘normal’ kid with that kid energy, don’t automatically go for the doctor’s insistence on a drug regimen. Parents should consider a natural approach first. What is your child eating during the day? What IS IN their food that might be causing this?
Consulting with a licensed nutritionist or dietitian, having a chemical analysis done might be a good first step. A cleaner diet, free of artificial chemicals, all sugars, no soda - might go a long way to helping the child. Because studies have indicated that there are an average of 1,000 household toxins in a child’s home environment, eliminating these elements may also have some bearing.
As an old friend used to say: “Start simple.” It may be the most beneficial way to help your child.
It used to be that only older women dyed their hair. In recent years, in an attempt to ’show their individuality’, more young women under age 30 have begun to regularly color their hair. This adds 20, 30 years - or more - to the potentially toxic exposure of chemical hair dyes. Some girls change the color of their hair once or twice a month. Think of the dose of chemicals they are giving themselves!
As the use of hair dye increases, (3 in every 5 women) according to published studies, there was also a link to a double risk in non-Hodgkins lymphoma for women who have used chemical hair dyes over 25 years, especially if they used dark colors. The lighter to color you’re trying to achieve, the higher the toxic exposure. Studies have also found that hair dyes are linked to increased rates of bladder cancer.
Chemical based hair dyes have many potential cancer causing and endocrine (hormone) disrupting toxins. Some ingredients, particularly lead acetate and sulfur, react to make the color. This combination has been found to be extremely toxic by the FDA, and is popular in many dyes, especially in a best selling men’s dye.
A known carcinogen, called 4-ABP, is found in hair dye products which are commonly sold in supermarkets and used in salons. Although not a listed ingredient in the chemical hair dyes, it is a by-product of the processing. Recently science has found that the actual chemical action of the dye (oxidizing) on the hair can contribute to the formation of compounds which promote cancer.
Some popular health store brands, which claim to be natural hair dyes, reveal that most contain two or more FDA-reviewed carcinogens: 4-methoxy-m-phenylenediamine (4-MMPD) and 4-methoxy-m-phenylenediamine sulphate (4-MMPD sulphate). Other chemicals generally believed to be harmful, including: Resorcinol, O-Aminophenol, Ethan-olamine, Propylene Glycol, Nonoxynol. According to John Corbett, Ph.D., vice president of the CTFA’s scientific and technical affairs committee, says, “If a natural product contains words like amino, nitro or phenyl or names of colors starting with the letters HC, the product is not natural.”
The good news is that natural henna hair dyes which contain no artificial ingredients such as ammonia, peroxide, PPD (p-phenylenediamine) are a safe alternative.
Henna, which is made from plant extracts, is a natural hair dye that actually nourishes the hair instead of stripping it. It also alleviates the risk of scalp infections, broken, dull hair, adding to body, strength and thickness. This natural hair dye has been used for thousands of years from Cleopatra and Neferteri, but has also been used on nails and body art.
Using henna hair dyes may take a bit longer than chemical hair dyes. The best way is to do the application twice. Make the paste like a cake batter, add an egg or olive oil to seal in the moisture, apply it, then wait for 30 minutes or so. Follow with another coloring. The first application lays down the color; the second puts the color over it.
When you use a natural hair dye such as henna, you are eliminating a large chemical load - and adding to peace of mind that your hair color is natural and safe!
In the book, Anti Cancer - A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, Phd, the author tells of two different studies on the prevalence of pesticides in children.
A researcher in Washington state conducted a series of tests on 42 children, ages 2 to 5. As families were leaving either a conventional grocery store or an organic co-op, they asked the parents if they would write down everything their children ate or drank for three days. Their diets were determined to be ‘organic’ if more than 75% of the food consumed was from organic sources; and ‘conventional’ if it wasn’t.
After measuring the amount of pesticides present in the children’s urine, she found that the amount of pesticides in the ‘organic’ children’s urine was one sixth that of the ‘conventional’ children’s levels and far below the EPA’s level of minimum exposure rate. The children on the ‘conventional’ diet had levels more than four times above the safe exposure limit set by the EPA.
The second study was done over a period of 15 days on 23 children. Their urine was tested after eating a ‘conventional’ diet for several days, and it showed the presence of pesticides. Then their diet was switched to completely organic foods. Within days, all traces of pesticides were gone from the urine samples. Upon starting on the conventional diet again, their levels quickly resumed.
Since 1940 the production of pesticides and synthetic chemicals has increased to over 150 MILLION TONS a YEAR. Much of the chemicals go into food production, personal care products, household cleaners, manufacture of common construction materials, clothing and every day items. Due to increased exposure of pesticides & synthetic chemicals, cancer rates have increased.
For more information, read the above mentioned book. It is a true eye-opener.
http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/term/447
http://www.organicconsumers.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/ExposureReport/pdf/factsheet_organochlorine.pdf