When learning about pesticides and their effects on our health and our environment, there’s just too much to master! Let’s start with the BOTTOM LINE:
Pesticides are Poison! They harm us and they harm our environment.
Why do we need to know any more than that? Because the mega-chemical companies are selling us down the river with the message that we cannot feed the world without pesticides. That we cannot manage mosquito-borne diseases without pesticides. We drank the kool-aid a long time ago, so it will take enormous efforts to get the TRUTH out there.
Scientists who try to publish their evidence of the true dangers of pesticides find it hard to get published. It’s virtually impossible (especially in the current US) to get funding for the work. We get labeled as alarmists, activists, tree-huggers, exaggerators.
Even when a particular pesticide comes under scrutiny (like glyphosate), the companies simply change the formulation or re-brand it, or substitute a different chemical. In the case of glyphosate, pesticide sellers reformulated a number of their products and substituted 2,4-D for the glyphosate. 2,4-D is even more toxic! You wouldn’t know it from the packaging. Here are a few common products that contain 2,4-D (of many!):
This product, not available in NY, also contains dicamba.
This product contains 4 different herbicides. Not available in NY.
Even when a particular state bans the use of a pesticide, you can just get it over the internet. Even when a particular pesticide is so poisonous that it’s UNDENIABLE and it gets banned (like DDT) broadly, it can just be shipped to another country and used there. The profits keep rolling in.
The mega chemical corporations churn out new toxic chemicals (about 2500 new ones a year), make new mixtures of chemicals, and re-brand, re-package and market them as safe for people and pets. According to the EPA Toxic Release Inventory of 2023, more than 3 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment that year. About the same (a little less) were released in 2020.
The corporations KNOW the dangers of their pesticides. They claim “safe when used as directed” and it’s tough to find the instructions. Most of the instructions I’ve seen say to use a respirator (or just “don’t breathe” in the fumes, or use in a ventilated area), to wear protective clothing and gloves, to be careful not to get it on shoes that enter the home. Does ANYONE do that?
In my neighborhood recently, I saw a neighbor walking back and forth on his grass distributing some kind of chemical. He was wearing shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, athletic shoes. No gloves, no respirator. Did he even read the safety instructions? Did he, when he was done, just go inside with his shoes on and walk to the sink and wash his hands? Did he then sit on furniture with those clothes on? This neighbor has two young kids and a dog. If anyone gets ill and even thinks to link the illness to the pesticides around them, the company can just ask if they followed the safety instructions.
Has there ever been a time in human history when a phenomenally harmful human practice that was immeasurably profitable for powerful people was stopped? I can’t think of a single one.
You might say, “Oh, what about DDT?” Well, that’s still used for mosquito control in some countries in Africa and Asia.
Cigarette smoking is toxic and continues to kill people. It’s still legal.
Here’s what the current EPA just released on their website last week:
Scary….don’t believe the EPA. This reeks of propaganda.
We cannot say that we aren’t aware that there are poisonous, harmful things for sale and being marketed as safe in this country. In fact, in this country at the moment, the prevailing thinking seems to be, “Well, we all die of something.” And, we certainly couldn’t care less about the other living things we share this planet with.
As a scientist, educator, parent and citizen, I am outraged by the actions of the current federal government to put our health and that of our planet at intentional risk. More on how this plays into our modern marinade coming soon. This is a five-alarm fire.
This newsletter is devoted to explaining how biology works and how it is relevant to our daily lives. Most of us stopped learning about biology in high school or even middle school. And the way we learned it was as isolated concepts and vocabulary to memorize. I hope that this newsletter helps you rekindle that love of biology and might even help with better understanding of some of the important biology all around us. Please share this with anyone you think might want to take a look.
Thanks for reading!
