For the sake of their own health and that of their children and families, applicators
should want to find ways to reduce their exposure to pesticides. The most effective
way to reduce exposure is to avoid the use of pesticides. Fortunately, safer methods
are available for controlling many pests. It is important for applicators to educate
their employers or clients about the hazards of pesticides and encourage them to use
non-chemical pest control methods.
It took decades for science to establish a firm causal link between smoking and
lung cancer. It will undoubtedly take many more years for research to conclusively
demonstrate links between pesticide exposure and cancer and other chronic diseases.
But enough is known now to raise strong suspicions, and the acute exposure hazards
are clear. Why take chances with people’s health?Public Consciousness Is AwakeningPesticides are used worldwide in agriculture, industry, public health, and domestic
applications; as a consequence, a great part of the population may be exposed to these
compounds. In spite of this extensive use, knowledge of the health risks associated
with prolonged exposure is rather poor, and major uncertainties still exist. Epidemio-
logical observations in man have so far produced little conclusive information, mainly
because of weaknesses in exposure assessment.
Pesticides are the only class of toxic materials intentionally introduced into the
environment to kill or damage living organisms. Currently, people are exposed with-
out their knowledge to pesticides whose human health effects are largely unknown.
To protect our health and help safeguard our water and food from contamination,
we need better information about pesticide use, whether on golf courses, at schools,
in homes, on farms, or on suburban lawns and gardens.
Being educated about pesticides is a basic right. Knowing what toxic substances are
in one’s environment is a matter of fundamental fairness and is an essential part of a
democratic society. Information about pesticide use can help individuals make choices
and take action to limit their exposure.
It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove that a particular chemical
caused a person to become chemically sensitized, a tumor to form, a miscarriage to
occur, or brain damage to happen. After all, we live in a society that does not tolerate
dangerous experimentation on humans. However, based on the growing body of evi-
dence from laboratory research, wildlife studies, and accidental human exposures, it
is very clear that currently used chemical pesticides pose serious threats to human
health.
Pesticide reporting data once again confirm our addiction to these hazardous
chemicals. These findings arrive at a key point in time, when a steady drumbeat in
the media has raised public consciousness of pesticide risks, prompting new questions
from an ever-broader cross-section of citizens and policy makers. As never before,
people are recognizing that pesticides are not silver bullets, but clumsy, non-specific
poisons that leave an inevitable trail of contamination in their wake and do242 | Pesticides