Pesticides and Children - The Effects of Pesticides on Children

A recent study examining the link between pesticides and children concludes that children who grow up in homes where their parents use pesticides are two times as likely to develop brain cancer as those who grow up in homes that use no pesticides.

Will Your Use of Garden Pesticides Give Your Child Brain Cancer?

According to the study, the link between pesticides and children seems to start before birth. Specifically, it appears that the parent's exposure to pesticides in some way impact the fetus in such a way to make it more susceptible to developing brain cancer. This means that even if a couple doesn't yet have children, but plans on having them, they should be extremely careful about not only their children's exposure to pesticides on their lawn and playing surfaces, but they have to be concerned about their own exposure to pesticides as well.

Even though the study doesn't conclusively prove that pesticides are the primary reason for the children developing brain cancer, it's another entry in the mounting evidence linking pesticides to all kinds of cancer in animals. Even though genetics is known to play a large part in our risks for developing a particular disease, we also know that environmental factors play a significant part as well.

Studies like this are part of the reason why many parents are seeking organic lawn care natural alternatives to use for their lawns. The increasing amount of evidence linking pesticides to illnesses in children is also a factor in the growing popularity of synthetic turf around homes. Synthetic turf is easy to care for and it doesn't require the use of pesticides.

Controlling exposure can be difficult, however. For example, if your community is like many throughout the U.S., there are probably some homes using lawn care services. Do you know if they are using pesticides on the lawns they care for? And if they do, do you know how much? Also, many municipalities spray pesticides in their parks and forests as well as on trees throughout the community. Are they using pesticides that may affect your children or are they using more natural means of control?

If, for whatever reason, you can't avoid the use of pesticides, you should at least attempt to limit your exposure to them, wear protective clothing when using them, and use the mildest type that will do the job.

Homeowners in the U.S. spend a lot of time on their lawns and in their gardens. Lawns and gardens bring gives one s sense of calm and serenity and brings us all closer to nature. But, if we're enjoying nature at the risk of health to our children, it's probably time to start to rethink our priorities.

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