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Even seemingly innocuous lawn-care pesticides post unacceptable health hazards for your family. Pesticides can cause a range of deleterious conditions such as asthma, hyperactivity, and behavior problems in children, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, not to mention learning disabilities, reproductive disorders, compromised brain development, and that biggest baddie of all, cancer.
Because babies, kids, and pets spend most of their time playing outdoors on the grass, or indoors on carpets, where lawn chemicals have been tracked in on shoes, the tiniest members of our family are also the most vulnerable. Here are some tips from Healthy Child Healthy World on how we can protect them:
1. Discontinue the use of all pesticides on lawns.
2. Keep all pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides out of children's sight and reach.
3. Instruct your garden-care professional to stop using these toxic chemicals, and change to a natural, pesticide-free lawn and garden.
4. Buy local, organic fruits and vegetables, and thoroughly washing all produce.
5. Work with school administration to eliminate pesticides from the school environment.
6. Encourage good habits, such as washing hands after playing outdoors and taking shoes off at the door.
Difficulty level: Moderate
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