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Camping on the Beach: Where to Go and How Not to Get Caught
Alas, ye old hippy ... endless sand, driftwood shacks and long
nights passed in a ganga haze are getting harder and harder to
source.
Once the defining notion of a life without strings, setting up
camp on a beach is no longer a simple...
Design Your Saving Energy Plan
At least once in a while and most likely when the utility bills are delivered people seriously consider finding a good energy plan that might be helpful in assisting them with implementing some techniques that will result efficient in what concerns...
Global Warming
Earth's average temperature is increasing continuously to a
dangerous extent. Temperature has risen by 0.5 ± 0.2C. Glaciers
are melting across the globe and the gravity of the situation
can be harnessed from the fact that some glaciers have...
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day to everyone! (255 words) What can you do to make a difference - pick up a copy of our book, Trash Talk, & we'll show you a myriad of simple ideas to reduce consumption of resources & new ways to manage your contribution to the...
Outdoors Gifts
Outdoors gifts are some of the easiest to find and buy. The only
limitation is your imagination and bank account.
Outdoors Gifts
In creating the following list of ideas for outdoors gifts, I've
tried to cover prices ranging from the...
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The Dangers of Pesticides
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) is one pesticide that
has been unquestionably labeled hazardous to our health. It has
been linked to cancer and is actually banned from all use in
America now.
DDT was widely used in the 1960's. It's all-time peak came in
1963 when 61 million pounds of DDT were sprayed across the U.S.
The first major opposition to the spraying of DDT came with
Rachel Carson's well-known book, "Silent Spring" in 1962. By
1968, many states had decided to ban the use of the pesticide.
By 1972, the government had banned all use of it in the U.S.
Today, the U.S. does not produce or supply DDT. Other regions of
the world like Africa, Central and South America still spray DDT
and compounds derived from it to help control diseases spread by
insects, such as malaria. Since some of our food is imported
from countries still using the pesticide, the FDA monitors
imported foods for traces of DDT and other hazardous substances.
Just what's so bad about DDT?
If a farmer sprays DDT on his crops, eventually, a rodent eats
one of the DDT covered plants. The DDT is then stored in the
fatty tissues of the rodent. Maybe a bird catches and eats the
rodent. The DDT comes with the package and is stored in the fat
of the bird.
The same bird also eats a fish from a nearby creek; one that
contains runoff from the
farmer's crops, and unfortunately DDT.
Now all the DDT from the fish is also stored within the bird.
The bird is caught and eaten by a female human. All the DDT from
the plant, the rodent, bird and fish is stored in her fatty
tissue. The woman has a baby and one of the mother's first gifts
to it is a portion of her DDT. Throughout the son or daughter's
life, even more DDT will accumulate as he or she continues to
ingest contaminated foods. Since it is a carcinogen, the
individual may have a greater chance of developing cancer.
Remember, DDT is extremely persistent so even though we don't
spray it now, it was sprayed all over the country for about
three decades and is definitely still around.
DDT is not the only pesticide that causes problems. Several
others are made from compounds that are derived from it and are
known to be carcinogic as well. Examples of these are malathion
and diazinon. Both are highly toxic. Fortunately, they break
down very quickly in the environment to form nontoxic compounds.
Carbamates are another group of pesticides which are presumably
not-carcinogenic, but still pose dangers to our health.
About the author:
Please take the time to review more cancer prevention articles
at... Cancer
Prevention Report.com Our health is our most precious asset.
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