Pesticides and children
Since spring is finally here there is cause to use numerous pesticides on our gardens. Spring is also a time when children start to throw themselves into the great outdoors and absorb nature. We’re students at the University of Delaware taking a Child psych class and we have learned a lot about teratogens and their harmful effects on children. The majority of them are everyday pesticides that we use on our gardens and our lawns. Since children spend so much time rolling around in the grass and picking flowers they are more likely to absorb these harmful agents. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that approximately 100,000 children directly ingest pesticides each year.
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As we all know children stick their hands and everything else into their mouths, and since they don’t wash their hands as often they are more likely to ingest pesticides. Many people don’t even realize that the chemicals they use on their lawn and gardens could be potentially harmful. Children are especially vulnerable because of their rapidly growing bodies and less equipped immune system.
Children are not the only ones in danger, pregnant women can also pass along these toxins to their unborn child. This can cause many defects for the baby such as neurological and developmental. There is also cause to worry about infants as mothers can pass along these chemicals in their breast milk. As a telephone survey had shown in 1992 97.8% of families used pesticides at least once a year and 67% had used them more than 5 times a year during pregnancy or the first 6 months of a child’s life.
As college students and as future parents we wanted to raise awareness about these potentially life threatening toxins that seem to be so common in the everyday American household. These are needless risks that could easily be avoided if people were more aware of the dangers they pose.
Danielle Solomon and Jonna Shipe
York
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