Not Making This Up
In all likelihood, if you are reading this, you have been buying organic produce, meat, and groceries for years. We all pay extra for these items to ensure that our food is cleaner and that the world which produces it is a bit better cared for. And yet, most of us are still dumping synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides and herbicides into our own yards.
Our children and pets play in those chemicals. We pick our fruit and bring it into our houses, feeling as if it is somehow better than what is in the store. Perhaps not. The chemicals that we put on our yards end up on the food we harvest, on the bottoms of our shoes, in our upholstery and carpets, and on the clothes our children wear when rolling around in that luxurious outdoor green carpet.
The rate of pesticide use on lawns is on average ten times more per acre than what is used on agricultural land. Americans use 90 million pounds of herbicide just on our lawns each year. Suburban lawns use about 2.7 pounds of pesticide per acre per year. Once they are tracked or carried indoors, pesticide residues last much longer - for months or even years - since there is no sunlight, air, wind or rain to break them down or wash them away. Lawn care chemicals are easily absorbed into the body, especially through the skin. Children playing on affected lawns, carpets, furniture or even toys, readily absorb the pesticides through their skin and swallowing.
Studies show that of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 13 are linked to cancer, 13 are linked to birth defects, 21 with reproductive disorders, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are irritants, and 11 disrupt the endocrine system. The list of disorders linked to lawn chemicals includes; cancer, infertility, birth defects, Parkinson's disease, and damage to the brain and nervous system. Cancers associated with lawn chemicals include leukemia, brain cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, multiple myeloma, cancer of the pancreas, breast, prostate, kidney/bladder, eye, and colon-rectum (why does that always come last?).
And our children, who are more likely to be out in the area where we have used these chemicals, are much more vulnerable to the effects of the chemicals we use due to their lower relative body weight and developing organ systems. A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds home and garden pesticide use can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times. Those same pesticides have been shown to increase a child's likelihood of developing asthma, hyperactivity, developmental delays, behavioral disorders, and motor dysfunction. Children between the ages of 6-11 have higher levels of lawn chemicals in the blood than all other age categories. Biomonitoring studies find that pesticides pass from mother to child through umbilical cord blood and breast milk.
Studies show that dogs exposed to chemically-treated lawns double their chance of developing canine lymphoma and certain breeds are four to seven times more likely to develop bladder cancer. Of the 30 commonly used lawn pesticides: 16 are toxic to birds, 24 are toxic to fish, and 11 are deadly to bees. And sadly, your neighbor's use of chemicals can still contaminate your home. Pesticide drift residues contaminate play equipment, sand boxes, home gardens, backyard pools and ponds, rivers, lakes, and streams. Pesticide drift from run-off, leaching, and rain is a hazard to birds, bees, fish, and other wildlife, and to pets.
Please help us reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used; commit to using only natural and organic methods to nourish your plants and fight pests. If you use a lawn-care service (other than Heirloom Gardens), insist they stop putting chemicals on your lawn. Read about the techniques we use on this web site and many others about organic lawn maintenance to learn how to treat your lawn naturally. If you are not interested in tackling the problem yourself and choose to use an organic maintenance company, give us a call. We will help in any way we can.
I didn't make this stuff up. For the sources of the above facts and figures, please click on the links associated with the info or head to our resources page.
Photo credit: Babies first lawn by librarian avenger and A day every dad dreams of by Woodley Wonderworks from Flickr via Creative Commons license.