A Common Pesticide Damaging Brains
Please take time to read this dramatic article from the New York Times. It is not about politics, although the role of politics is undeniable. It is about humanity, about all of us, about future generations.
An excerpt from the beginning of the publication is below. When you click the Read More link at the end of this page, you will see a graphic that shows the brain damage this product causes. And we wonder why so many kids struggle in so many ways?
If you do not have a subscription to the New York Times, you should still be able to read 10 online articles per month without a subscription.
What can you do about this problem? Of course, encourage your elected officials to act. But also protect yourselves and your family: Buy organic whenever you can.
Trump’s Legacy: Damaged Brains
Nicholas Kristof
The pesticide, which belongs to a class of chemicals developed as a nerve gas made by Nazi Germany, is now found in food, air and drinking water. Human and animal studies show that it damages the brain and reduces I.Q.s while causing tremors among children. It has also been linked to lung cancer and Parkinson’s disease in adults.
This chemical, chlorpyrifos, is hard to pronounce, so let’s just call it Dow Chemical Company’s Nerve Gas Pesticide. Even if you haven’t heard of it, it may be inside you: One 2012 study found that it was in the umbilical cord blood of 87 percent of newborn babies tested.
And now the Trump administration is embracing it, overturning a planned ban that had been in the works for many years.
The Environmental Protection Agency actually banned Dow’s Nerve Gas Pesticide for most indoor residential use 17 years ago — so it’s no longer found in the Raid you spray at cockroaches (it’s very effective, which is why it’s so widely used; then again, don’t suggest this to Dow, but sarin nerve gas might be even more effective!). The E.P.A. was preparing to ban it for agricultural and outdoor use this spring, but then the Trump administration rejected the ban.
That was a triumph for Dow, but the decision stirred outrage among public health experts. They noted that Dow had donated $1 million for President Trump’s inauguration.
