Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Excerpts from American Water Works Assn. superintendents found unusually high
2006 Water Sources Conference numbers of deaths from cancer, non-
Albuquerque, NM Hodgkin’s lymphoma – University of Iowa,
Amy Vickers, Author College of Medicine Study
• Canada: 66 cities and towns prohibit lawn
• Estimate 80 million U.S. households use chemicals – Canadian Supreme Court
home and garden pesticides (EPA, 2004) – decision, November 2005 – More bans
3-10 times more chemicals applied per acre expected to follow
of lawn than crops • “Since ornamental use of pesticides has no
• U.S. Geological Survey of streams, surface countervailing health benefit and has the
water – Pesticide residues potential to cause harm, we call for a ban on
• Environmental Working Group, “Body the use of pesticides on lawns and gardens.”
Burden” – Pesticide residues – Canadian Cancer Society
• Lawn fertilizers and pesticides contribute to • Although we don’t have all the scientific
ground and surface water quality data, it’s better to err on the side of caution”
degradation p Eutrophication – Increased and call for an outright pesticide ban
treatments costs – Adverse impacts on health because of previously discovered links
of people, animal, aquatic, and other living between pesticides and cancer. – Quebec
systems College of Family Physicians
• Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides: 13 • “Refuse to Use ChemLawn” campaign – 17
are probably or possible carcinogens, 13 are of 32 (53%) of TruGreen ChemLawn’s
linked with birth defects, 21 are linked with pesticide products include ingredients that
reproductive effects, 15 are linked with are possible carcinogens according to EPA
reproductive neurotoxicity, 26 are linked and WHO
with reproductive, liver or kidney damage,
27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, 11 have
potential to disrupt the endocrine system
• Exposure pathways: air, feet/paws/shoes,
drinking water
• Landscape chemical runoff returns to ground
and surface water-many drinking water
sources
• National Institute of Health, In Harms Way
study – 80% tested had pesticide residues in
blood – increased risk of breast, testicular,
other cancers
• 50% of lifetime pesticide exposure occurs
during first 5 years of life, est. Nat’l
Academy of Sciences – Children take in
more pesticides relative to body weight than
adults
• Home and garden pesticide use can increase
the risk of childhood leukemia by almost
seven times – Lowengart, R. et al., Jr
National Cancer Institute
• Pesticide, enviro cancer links in companion
animals –
www.vet.cornell.edu/cancer/Comparative.ht
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