Sharon Labchuk wrote:
> Here are a few facts about human exposure in the US:
>
> - a federal study (1988-1994) sampled 900 adult volunteers from all over
> the country.  Farm families were not specifically examined.  Only one dozen
> pesticdes that readily metabolize and are eliminated in urine could be
> measured. Metabolites of 1 organophosphate insecticide were detected in 82%
> of the people, and metabolites of another OP insecticide detected in 42% of
> them.  Pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative, was detected in 64% of the
> people.  A metabolite of a carcinogenic pesticide used in mothballs and
> toilet deodorizers was detected in 98% of the people.

I am not going to bother to do the research on this, but the numbers are
so big, such as "A metabolite of a carcinogenic pesticide used in
mothballs and toilet deodorizers was detected in 98% of the people"
strains my credibiliy and makes me suspect the rest.

Unless, however, you check the term, "metabolite of a carcinogenic
pesticide", then it all falls into place. Our bodies metabolize just
about everything we eat. Those metabolites can be the same from onions,
a known carcinogen (it actually is if the ingredients are tested as  we
currently do to determine if they are carciogenic) as metabolites from a
pesticide. This looks like junk science, where you start with an agenda
and then prove it. CO2 and water could be the common metabolites for all
I know. The toilet bowl metabolites could be chlorides, and who doesn't
secrete salt? Lord knows what they would find from broccoli (which has
pesticide built in) eaters.

And it is the kind of thing I have been warning about. I am against
gaucho,. I do believe it is a problem. But if we make ourselves into
such an easy target as the above, we are in trouble. We need good
science, facts and fervor, not just the latter. To win on emotion, you
need an exceptional propaganda machine. And you might win a couple, but
once you are found out, the backlash can be worse than the success.
Check Alar and its aftermath. More laws were generated from its banning
to protect industry than the environment, all because it was a
propaganda war and not a scientific one and shown to be so.

End of rant. My apologies to Sharon, who I admire for her zeal, and any
offended.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME