To be exposed to pesticides, you don't have to eat anything. Just go out in a typical back yard. You don't even have to use the products yourself. Pesticides can drift over the fence from your neighbor's yard, and you can track them into your home. Once inside, they don't easily break down.
Even in environmentally conscious Boulder, yellow pesticide-warning flags start popping up in the spring like so many dandelions. Even after the flags come down, the chemicals they warn of remain in the soil for weeks, even months.
A growing body of research links pesticides with health problems ranging from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to Parkinson's disease, from infertility to birth defects, and from asthma to neurological problems—including behavioral problems in children.
Children are particularly at risk.
Children breathe more, eat more, drink more, and absorb more per pound of body weight than adults do. Kids play and breathe down at ground level, and they tend to put fingers in their mouths. And children have immature immune systems, neurological systems, and hormonal systems.
The good news? What's good for us is good for our soil, our plants, and the planet.
Start in your own back yard. Join us in working for alternatives right here in Boulder County.