Some Things You Might Not Want to Know about Lawn Chemicals

This afternoon this guy from one of the lawn chemical companies stopped by. He said he'd taken a good look at my yard, and he thought I might need his services. I looked out at my sun-baked yard. He said it just needed a good hosing of pesticides and herbicides. Nothing harmful. He assured me that his company only used safe chemicals. He gave me his card, and said if I changed my mind, just call and ask for Bob.

I didn't know whether to tell him what was on my mind. I wasn't sure if it would be polite to say that according to the EPA, 95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns contain possible carcinogens. In 1989 the National Cancer Institute reported that children develop leukemia 6 times more often when pesticides are used around their homes. In June of 2006, the Harvard School of Public Health published a study linking Parkinson’s with pesticide exposure. Several studies conducted at the Virginia Technical Institute link a weakened immune system to pesticides. And the University of Florida reported that the daughters of mothers who live in proximity to agricultural spraying might never be able to nurse their babies. Some of these girls fail to develop mammary tissue or develop only minimal amounts.
http://news.ufl.edu/2006/06/07/breast-changes/
http://www.chemtox.com/immunesystem/pesticides/pesticides.htm