Did you know that farmers, pesticide applicators, and pesticide factory workers have higher cancer rates than the average person? The U.S. government doesn't appear to know or at least doesn't care. Despite this very troubling fact, the government allows almost one billion pounds of pesticides to be poured on our food supply each year- a few pounds for each of us. Not only are pesticides in and on our food, but in our drinking water as well.
The purpose of using pesticides is to eliminate insects, bacteria, fungus, and harmful plants from the soil in order to boost crop yields. While there is nothing wrong with boosting crop yields, the manner in which it is done is troublesome. It doesn't take a scientist to see there is not much of a leap necessary to go from killing bugs in the soil to killing cells in the body. These chemicals are believed by many researchers to damage and change our DNA, which can open the door to the accelerated spread of cancer.
Many of these dangerous chemicals are also fat soluble, meaning they can remain in our fat cells for years. I went through about two weeks of detox symptoms when I converted to an organic vegan diet. There were definitely chemicals hitting my blood stream. The most common symptom is a consistent headache.
Although the government doesn't appear to be making any effort to understand this causation, much research has been done privately. The evidence clearly shows a distinct link between cancer and insecticides and herbicides. A research project done in the U.S., which tested over 55,000 farm workers for skin cancer, showed that those who applied the most pesticides over their careers had the highest rates of cancer. Those is the top group were more than 2.5x as likely to get skin cancer than the bottom group.
The diverse landscape of Argentina can be helpful in illustrating the connection between cancer and pesticides. Their Ministry of Health completed a study that showed a strong connection between the two. Areas of low pesticide use had low cancer rates while the opposite was true in high application areas. This is a useful report for U.S. citizens to understand as Argentina's agricultural industry is very similar to ours with respect to the usage of both pesticides and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
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.
The best way to avoid insecticides and herbicides is to eat cleaner foods, mainly organic, although non-GMO can help as well. Thin-skinned fruits and most berries should be eaten from organic farms. I would recommend filtering your drinking water as well.
The purpose of using pesticides is to eliminate insects, bacteria, fungus, and harmful plants from the soil in order to boost crop yields. While there is nothing wrong with boosting crop yields, the manner in which it is done is troublesome. It doesn't take a scientist to see there is not much of a leap necessary to go from killing bugs in the soil to killing cells in the body. These chemicals are believed by many researchers to damage and change our DNA, which can open the door to the accelerated spread of cancer.
Many of these dangerous chemicals are also fat soluble, meaning they can remain in our fat cells for years. I went through about two weeks of detox symptoms when I converted to an organic vegan diet. There were definitely chemicals hitting my blood stream. The most common symptom is a consistent headache.
Although the government doesn't appear to be making any effort to understand this causation, much research has been done privately. The evidence clearly shows a distinct link between cancer and insecticides and herbicides. A research project done in the U.S., which tested over 55,000 farm workers for skin cancer, showed that those who applied the most pesticides over their careers had the highest rates of cancer. Those is the top group were more than 2.5x as likely to get skin cancer than the bottom group.
The diverse landscape of Argentina can be helpful in illustrating the connection between cancer and pesticides. Their Ministry of Health completed a study that showed a strong connection between the two. Areas of low pesticide use had low cancer rates while the opposite was true in high application areas. This is a useful report for U.S. citizens to understand as Argentina's agricultural industry is very similar to ours with respect to the usage of both pesticides and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
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.
The best way to avoid insecticides and herbicides is to eat cleaner foods, mainly organic, although non-GMO can help as well. Thin-skinned fruits and most berries should be eaten from organic farms. I would recommend filtering your drinking water as well.
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
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