Some 100 million pounds of pesticides are used by homeowners in homes and gardens each year, even more when commercial companies are added in. Suburban lawns and gardens are known to receive far heavier pesticide applications per acre than most other land areas in the U.S., including agricultural areas.

Studies show that these hazardous lawn chemicals are drifting into our homes where they contaminate indoor air and surfaces, exposing children at levels ten times higher than pre-application levels.

Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides:

• 19 are linked with cancer or carcinogenicity,
• 13 are linked with birth defects,
• 21 with reproductive effects,
• 26 with liver or kidney damage,
• 15 with neurotoxicity,
• and 11 with disruption of the endocrine (hormonal) system.

Of those same 30 lawn pesticides:

• 17 are detected in groundwater,
• 23 have the ability to leach into drinking water sources,
• 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms vital to our ecosystem,
• 11 are toxic to bees, and 16 are toxic to birds.

With numbers like this, the only logical question becomes: is this really necessary and what can we do to stop or prevent this kind of contamination?

Adapted from www.beyondpesticides.org