From Environmental Research Foundation
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Organophosphates act as nerve toxins, disrupting the nervous system by inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. Short-term symptoms resulting from human exposure to organophosphates can include breathing problems, headache, nausea and dizziness. High exposures can produce fatal poisoning.

-- J. Routt Reigart and James R. Roberts, RECOGNITION AND MANAGEMENT OF PESTICIDE POISONINGS. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs, 1999). Available at http:www.epa.gov/oppfead1/safety/healthcare/handbook/handbook.htm

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"Using U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics based on 27,000 food samples from 1994 to 1997, the CONSUMER REPORTS looked at foods children are most likely to eat," the NEW YORK TIMES reported. "Almost all the foods tested for pesticide residues were within legal limits, but were frequently well above the levels the Environmental Protection Agency says are safe for young children. According to the Consumer's Union Report, even one serving of some fruits and vegetables can exceed safe daily limits for young children,"

"Methyl parathion accounts for most of the total toxicity on the foods that were analyzed, particularly peaches, frozen and canned green beans, pears and apples. Late last year [EPA] said that methyl parathion posed an 'unacceptable risk' but that it had not taken any action to ban it or reduce its use. Organophosphates [such as methyl parathion] are neurological poisons and work the same on humans as they do on insects," the TIMES said.

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Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is a group of cancers that arise in the white blood cells. ... recent evidence suggests that another class of pesticides --the organophosphates such as malathion and parathion --can cause NHL.[7] Thus organochlorines, organophosphates, and phenoxy herbicides are now all implicated in the mushrooming problem of NHL. ... In the case of these chemicals, it is not too late to make sensible, precautionary decisions. In our homes, our public buildings, our schools, and our businesses we could avoid these products like the plague. Alternative ways of dealing with pests are well-known. If pesticides are needed at all, they are needed only in emergencies.

Two studies are described briefly in John Wargo, OUR CHILDREN'S TOXIC LEGACY (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1996), pg. 237, footnote 13. And see S.H. Zahm and others, "The role of agricultural pesticide use in the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in women," ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Vol. 48, No. 5 (September 1993), pgs. 353-358, which found a 4-fold increase in NHL among women exposed to organophosphates.