Why Pesticides Are A Problem

My grandmother always said that the day would come when I’d wholly appreciate the life I lived with her in the Trinidad & Tobago countryside. That day came a long time ago. Back then, the beach was my playground, climbing trees and scaling down trunks were my version of slides, the ocean was my swimming pool, the river was my tap water, and my plate was filled with foods from clean, pesticide-free soil and environment. Oh, how I which I had it all at my disposal, now. Grannie knew what she was talking about.

Hence, it’s really bittersweet to write articles like these. Though I’m thrilled to be able to seek out and find life enhancing information for myself and to bring to you. Conversely, I’m sickened that issues like, yucky pesticides in our foods is even a reality.

Rightly so, there are growing concerns in our communities that even small amounts of pesticides found in our foods can cause adverse effects to our health, and especially to the health of children and the developing fetus.

Why Are Pesticides harmful?

Pesticides are toxicants. They are poisons that are used to kill living things like bugs, weeds, and other undesirable organic matter. They can be found everywhere in our environment including our homes and beauty cabinets. what’s even more alarming is that residues are also found in and on some of our favorite foods.

When pesticides enter the body, they are stored in the colon and there it slowly diffuses to other parts of the body. The result of years of studies and testing has shown that the use of toxicants have been linked to ailments such as:

According to the National Information Pesticide Center, once in the environment, pesticides can be broken down by:

Where Are Pesticides Found?

Pesticides can be found in the soil, foods, beauty & cosmetic ingredients, toothpaste, household cleaning, and garden products, oceans and seas and other bodies of water.

How Can You Protect Yourself From The Effects Of Pesticides?

Eating clean organic foods is the surest way to protect you and your family from the adverse effects of pesticides found in foods. You can check out EWG’s Dirty Dozen foods that should always be bought organically, and The Clean Fifteen foods, which doesn’t have to be organic.

Use beauty & cosmetic products that are toxicant-free better known as “clean.” EWG also has its Skin Deep Database that highlights the potential effects of toxicant ingredients and scores each ingredient on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most toxic.

At home, reduce the use of products that contain known and potentially dangerous pesticides.

The bottom line is education. Get educated about the effects of toxicants in beauty & cosmetics and foods. Information is a gateway to sound decision making. The more you know, the more you’re able to do. Now it’s up to you.

I also highly recommend viewing the following video by EWG (The Environmental Working Group).