Most of us have unhealthy levels of pesticides inside our
bodies, from yards (or own and others) and the food we eat, as
well as air and water. There's no way to avoid being exposed to
them. When the Pesticide Action Network looked for levels of 23
different pesticides in data on over 2,500 people, they found
that the average person had at least 13 of them in their blood
and urine. Margaret Reeves of PAN says, "A growing body of
research suggests that even at very low levels, the combination
of these chemicals can be harmful to our health." Children
between the ages of 6 and 11 are exposed to the nerve-damaging
pesticide chlorpyrifos at four times the acceptable level.
Chlorpyrifos kills insects by disrupting their nervous system.
Dow is the largest pesticide manufacturer in the country.
Spokesman Garry Hamlin says, "Chlorpyrifos is widely used, and
studies by the Centers for Disease Control suggest that people
are exposed to chlorpyrifos at very tiny levels?When people are
exposed, the product breaks down re