Yet again, 'safer' pesticides prove harmful Turns out a new
generation of supposedly safer pesticides isn't so safe after
all. In the latest entry of a growing body of evidence,
scientists announced last week that pyrethroid pesticides — now
in hundreds of pest control products sold for home use — can
interfere with the healthy development of an infant's nervous
system when moms are exposed during pregnancy. Here we go again.
History tells us that substituting one type of pesticide for
another "safer" variety just doesn't work out very well. Out of
the frying pan In the beginning, there were organochlorine
pesticides (OCs). The post-WWII explosion in the use of these
longlasting chemicals was based on belief that the "miraculous"
pesticides were pretty much harmless to humans. In time,
scientists began to understand the dangers of chemicals like DDT
and endosulfan (both OCs). They last for years in the
environment, build up in the tissues of animals (including
humans), pass from mother to child during pregnan