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Toxic Top Ten
What every parent should know about a child's exposure to pesticides
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1) One of every 4 peaches & 1 of every 8 apples exposes a child of 5 (& under) to unsafe levels of Organophosphates. - even after washing and peeling! [Organophosphates - a pesticides class proven to harm the developing brain and nervous system among other health effects] sources:"Overexposed: Organophosphate Insecticides in Children's Food" Environmental Working Group report, January 29, 1998- Richard Wiles et al; "Jimmy and Jane's Day, A precautionary Tale"- Caroline Cox, Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer 1998, Vol. 18 Number 2

2) Every day, about 77,000 infants in the U.S. are exposed to unsafe levels through eating baby food preparations of apple juice, apple sauce, pears and peaches. (Commercial baby food is the dominant source of unsafe levels of pesticides in food for infants 6 to 12 months old.) sources:"Overexposed: Organophosphate Insecticides in Children's Food" Environmental Working Group report, January 29, 1998- Richard Wiles et al; "Jimmy and Jane's Day, A precautionary Tale"- Caroline Cox, Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer 1998, Vol. 18 Number 2

3) More than a quarter million American children ages one through five ingest a combination of 20 different pesticides every day. More than 1 million preschoolers eat at least 15 pesticides on a given day. Overall, 20 million American children five and under eat an average of eight pesticides every day Sources:"How 'bout them apples - Pesticides in Children's Food" report by Environmental Working Group, Washington DC Feb 1999, Wiles Cook Hettenback, Campbell & USDA Food Consumption Data 1996, FDA Pesticide Residue Data 1991, US EPA 1998a US EPA 1998b

4) Children are often, unwittingly exposed to insecticides, like Diazinon, at school. Schools use such pesticides for treatment of ants, roaches etc. (Diazinon is an organophosphate -such insecticides are linked to increased risk of childhood Leukemia) Sources: "Epidemiological characteristics of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia" - Buckley J.D. et al 1994 - Leukemia 8(5):856-864; "Jimmy and Jane's Day, A precautionary Tale"- Caroline Cox, Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer 1998, Vol. 18 Number 2

5) Children have nearly 7 times the risk of developing Leukemia when pesticides are used in their homes or gardens. Sources: "Children's Environmental Health 1998 Report Card" -Physicians for Social Responsibilty; "Pesticides" - Rea, William J., 1996, Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine 6, 55-124.; Lowengart, et al., 1987, Journal of National Cancer Institute, 79: 39-46

6) Prenantal exposure (by either parent) to household pesticides shows increased risk of stillbirth and low birthweight babies. Sources: Savitz, Whelan, Kleckner, 1989 Public Health Report 104:473-477; "Jimmy and Jane's Day, A precautionary Tale"- Caroline Cox, Journal of Pesticide Reform, Summer 1998, Vol. 18 Number 2

7) A single glass of tap water can contain up to nine pesticides. Pesticides most frequently detected in drinking water - triazines and acetanilides - cause a litany of health effects, including cancer, birth defects, and disruption of the endocrine (hormone) system. (In the case of the triazine herbicides- multiple exposures can significantly increase health risks) Sources: "Weedkillers by the Glass, A Citizens Tapwater Monitoring Project in 29 cities" - Cohen Wiles Bondoc, EWG August 17, 1995

8) Air & dust inside homes can contain 10 or more times higher concentrations of pesticides than outside air--and those residues included insecticides approved only for outdoor use. (Pesticides used on lawns/gardens, around foundations for termites etc by residents and/or neighbours are tracked or drift' indoors, accumulate and persist in carpets, on floors and in the air for years.) Sources: "NON-OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES FOR RESIDENTS OF TWO U.S. CITIES". R. W. Whitmore, F. W. Immerman, D. E. Camann, A. E. Bond and R. G. Lewis in Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Vol.26, No. 1, pages 47-59; January 1994. ;"EXPOSURE OF CHILDREN TO POLLUTANTS IN HOUSE DUST AND INDOOR AIR". J. W. Roberts and P. Dickey in Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Vol. 143, pages 59-78; 1995. ; "EPA House Dust/Infant Pesticides Exposure Study," by R.G. Lewis, Chief, Methods Research Branch, EPA, Research Triangle Park, N.C.,

9) Children diagnosed with brain cancers under the age of 5 were found 5 times as likely to have had a family pet (note: insectides like chlorpyrifos- recently banned in the U.S. are active ingredients in flea collars and sprays- CAP)--Multiple Studies show a link between childhood brain cancer and home pesticide use. Sources: "Pesticides and Childhood Cancers" - Daniels, Olshan, Savitz 1997 - Env Health Perspectives 105:1068-1077

10) Common herbicide 2,4-D, {found in one third of all Canadian pesticides - (*)} widely used on residential lawns, soccer fields, public greenspaces has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other soft tissue sarcomas. Children with soft tissue sarcoma (including lymphoma) are more likely to live in homes with pesticide treated yards(**) Sources: (*)"Pesticide Bylaws: Why We Need Them and How to Get Them" - Hammond, M., 1995, . Consultancy for Alternative Education, Quebec.; (**)"Home Pesticide Use and Childhood Cancer" - Leiss, Savitz 1995 American Journal of Public Health 85:249-252