Going Organic Can Shield Children From Pesticidesby Marla Cone, LATimes.com
Switching to organic foods provides children "dramatic and immediate" protection from pesticides that are widely used on a variety of crops, according to a study by a team of federally-funded scientists.
Concentrations of two organophosphate pesticides - malathion and chlorpyrifos - declined substantially in the bodies of elementary school-age children during a five-day period when organic foods were substituted for conventional foods.
The two chemicals are the most commonly used insecticides in U.S. agriculture. More than 2 million pounds were applied to California crops in 2003.
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Malathion and Iowa
Use of malathion by farmers in Iowa and Minnesota has recently been linked to an increased risk of one type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Malathion is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the United States and throughout the world.
In Iowa, malathion is frequently used to spray against mosquitoes.
Shown to be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in vision loss, reproductive and learning problems, immune system disruption and other negative health effects in human and animal studies, damaging to non-target organisms, and containing highly toxic impurities, malathion has a legacy of serious problems.
Did you know that malathion is also used to kill head lice? Yeah, put that on your kids' heads and see what happens. According to this report on the KWWL website out of Waterloo, malathion has been used so frequently against head lice that the lice are building up a resistance to it and it is now only 17% effective. Combing through you child's wet hair with a fine-tooth comb is much more effective.
