A recent article in Pesticide Action Newtork’s North America issue reports that a common structural fumigant, VIKANE (sulfuryl flouride) is 4,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide! Additionally, Dow recently has begun marketing VIKANE (sulfuryl fluoride) as a post-harvest fumigant for dry fruits, nuts, and grains under the trade name ProFume.
Health effects of this commonly used chemical range from blood and kidney toxicant, neurotoxin, and respiratory toxicant. Also, the July 2008 ferry accident in the Philippines where it was found that 20,000 pounds of Vikane had been aboard was spilled into the ocean.
Originally developed by Dow Chemical in the 60’s, it is used as a fumigant insecticide primarily in the Southeast for termites. However, it provides no protection from future infestations. It is also used in children’s lice preparations and for treatment of bed bugs, rodents, powder post beetles. It is widely used as a structural fumigant insecticide to control drywood termites.
Sulfuryl fluoride is currently marketed by three manufacturers: Vikane (Dow) has been commercially available since the early 1960s, with Zythor (marketed by competitor EnSystex II of North Carolina) Most recently Drexel Chemical Company has registered Master Fume for the structural market.
During application, the building is enclosed in a tight tent and filled with the gas for a period of time, usually at least 16-18 hours, sometimes as long as 72 hours. The building must then be ventilated, generally for at least 6 hours, before occupants can return. Sulfuryl fluoride is colorless, odorless, and leaves no residue. During the fumigation process, a warning agent called Chloropicrin (similar to tear gas, but more toxic) is first released into the building to ensure that no occupants remain.
A report issued by MIT says that Vikane will “become a greenhouse gas of some importance of the quantity of its use grows as people expect.”
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!
Pesticides pose a health risk to humans, especially children. Because the ‘pests’ they are designed to kill - insects, fungi and plants, their use in the past half century has become the norm. Not only farmers use them but the average household uses a frightening amount each year.
Pesticide manufacturers will SWEAR that these products are safe. I once attended a seminar given by some of the folks at Ortho, Spectracide and others. I was absolutely enraged to hear these men LIE about being able to put these toxins on FOOD, then eat them an hour later! I wanted to stand up and scream…, alas, it would have meant the end of my job. They will defend them to the minute they are pulled off the market!
Recent studies show that they cause damage in the following areas of human health:
Skin, lung and eye irritations
Neurological systems
Hormone
Carcinogenic effects
What can you do? Limit your exposure as much as possible and detox your body often. This list gives information of how you can help yourself avoid pesticides and why!
Just a simple start of a detox bath once or twice a week, plus eating organic food, drinking purified water can go a long way to help reduce the toxic load. These poisons accumulate in the body, so it’s time to get rid of them - for a healthier YOU !
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!
Composting doesn’t have to be a stinky unsightly mess! You can compost pest-free with a Sun-Mar composter.
If you have a problem with neighborhood dogs or other critters, the Sun-Mar composter is pest free! It’s easy to unload, too. No heavy lifting: the finished compost comes out the bottom.
Compost strengthens the plants by providing essential nutrients - instead of CHEMICALS. What you put on your veggie garden, goes into your food that you eat. If you use pesticides and chemicals - GUESS what you are eating!
Now is the perfect time to get started on compost for the spring planting!
American consumers use millions of tons of chemical lawn and garden products a year.
As an employee in a garden center at a home improvement store for many years, I personally witnessed a frightening aspect of American life: a staggering amount of sales of toxic chemicals - thousands of pounds of the stuff went out the door every week - in just this one store!
People thought absolutely nothing of spreading and spraying toxic chemicals all over their lawns. Their concern wasn’t what it was doing to their environment -or- the potential toxicity to their children, pets and other wildlife. In what I would call their ‘fanatical desire’ to eradicate e v e r y pest and e v e r y weed, they didn’t realize they were increasing their risk to cancer & poisoning themselves, their children and the planet!
Most of them probably never read the back of the bags where it gave warnings about the product and said:
WARNING: poison!
Many of them didn’t know that these chemicals were in fact, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors which have been proven in many studies worldwide to cause cancer.
In her her highighly acclaimed book, Living Downstream - An Ecologist Looks at Cancer & the Environment, author, biologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber, Ph. D presents a frightening time line of the rise in cancer over the past 50 years.
Chemical preparations actually do more harm than good. They stress the plants out with a BIG dose of food. This creates dependency on chemicals by the plant (think drug addict!) in which they do not naturally build up their own defenses. Roots come to the surface to get the food instead of growing down into the soil. Physical damage also occurs due to infrequent or over-dosing. Granular or dust applications only deliver about 40% of the nutrients to the plant instead of over 95% with natural applications.
Then, of course, there is the environmental damage of groundwater pollution, runoff, introduction into far reaching water sources, to marine life; all of this eventually returns to us in our food!
Using organic and natural yard care products and remedies helps to protect you and the Earth for further damage caused by pesticides. Every choice YOU MAKE affects Mother Earth every day.
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