The U.S. agricultural market and chemical industry sells just under a billion pounds of insecticides and herbicides each year. The government allows this to happen despite knowing that farmers and those that apply pesticides, as well as factory workers at pesticide plants get cancer at significantly higher rates than those that do not work on farms or in chemical plants. Very little effort has been made, to date, by the government in order to get to the bottom of this crisis. Pesticides can also be found in our water.
Pesticides are used to kill or deter insects, weeds, fungus, bacteria, and animals. It is not a stretch to believe that the same chemicals used to kill insects and plants on our food could kill our cells once we ingest those chemicals. Carcinogenic chemicals are known to damage and even alter our DNA, due to the creation of free radicals that can accelerate the spread of cancerous cells.
Unfortunately, our bodies are capable of storing these dangerous chemicals in our fat cells, and they often do. We can carry around pesticides in our bodies for years, because they are fat soluble. When I first began eating a cleaner diet of mainly organic fruits and vegetables, I experienced at least ten days of detoxification symptoms, mainly headaches.
Despite a lack of government effort, the amount of research that has been done by private organizations on the link between cancer and pesticides is monumental and damning. In a U.S. study, 56,000 farm workers who sprayed pesticides were tested for skin cancer. Results were compared to the workers' time spent administering certain pesticides. The risk of skin cancer increased as exposure rose, to as high as 2.5x more for those with the highest chemical exposure.
The Ministry of Health in Argentina also recently released a report highlighting a massive dichotomy of cancer rates across its provinces, linking the higher rates to increased usage of chemical pesticides. In some areas, cancer rates were more than double that of the areas with lowest chemical usage. Argentina is a useful comparison for the U.S. because together both countries produce roughly 70% of all genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), which require heavy pesticide use.
Other research has shows links to a host of other cancers, including brain, breast, prostate, lung, and bladder cancer, as well as leukemia and lymphoma.
I put little faith in the claims made by these chemical companies when they say their products don't harm us and that they are doing a public service by boosting food output. Without these pesticides, according to pesticide industry execs, we would all be starving right now. I find that hard to believe, particularly when remembering that a variety of previous industry products have been removed from the shelves because they were deemed carcinogenic, like DDT and PCBs.
Eat organic fruits and vegetables, at least those without hard shells or thick protective skins. While I don't recommend it, if you stick with foods doused with pesticides, wash and/or peel the skin. I also suggest you get a water filter for your drinking water.
Pesticides are used to kill or deter insects, weeds, fungus, bacteria, and animals. It is not a stretch to believe that the same chemicals used to kill insects and plants on our food could kill our cells once we ingest those chemicals. Carcinogenic chemicals are known to damage and even alter our DNA, due to the creation of free radicals that can accelerate the spread of cancerous cells.
Unfortunately, our bodies are capable of storing these dangerous chemicals in our fat cells, and they often do. We can carry around pesticides in our bodies for years, because they are fat soluble. When I first began eating a cleaner diet of mainly organic fruits and vegetables, I experienced at least ten days of detoxification symptoms, mainly headaches.
Despite a lack of government effort, the amount of research that has been done by private organizations on the link between cancer and pesticides is monumental and damning. In a U.S. study, 56,000 farm workers who sprayed pesticides were tested for skin cancer. Results were compared to the workers' time spent administering certain pesticides. The risk of skin cancer increased as exposure rose, to as high as 2.5x more for those with the highest chemical exposure.
The Ministry of Health in Argentina also recently released a report highlighting a massive dichotomy of cancer rates across its provinces, linking the higher rates to increased usage of chemical pesticides. In some areas, cancer rates were more than double that of the areas with lowest chemical usage. Argentina is a useful comparison for the U.S. because together both countries produce roughly 70% of all genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), which require heavy pesticide use.
Other research has shows links to a host of other cancers, including brain, breast, prostate, lung, and bladder cancer, as well as leukemia and lymphoma.
I put little faith in the claims made by these chemical companies when they say their products don't harm us and that they are doing a public service by boosting food output. Without these pesticides, according to pesticide industry execs, we would all be starving right now. I find that hard to believe, particularly when remembering that a variety of previous industry products have been removed from the shelves because they were deemed carcinogenic, like DDT and PCBs.
Eat organic fruits and vegetables, at least those without hard shells or thick protective skins. While I don't recommend it, if you stick with foods doused with pesticides, wash and/or peel the skin. I also suggest you get a water filter for your drinking water.
About the Author:
Please see my website for more information at dangers of pesticides food additives preservatives or my blog at natural claims on food label
Comments
Post a Comment