Quote:
Originally Posted by twinklesweep
I grew up in and lived for decades in a fruit-growing region. It was the only income source in the area, virtually all for small growers. Without statistics, lawsuits, and such, it was simply a given that spraying times were announced, and particularly for those who lived adjoining the orchards, if you couldn’t be away at spraying time, you had to seal yourself into your own home. While the local health services urged awareness of cancer issues, particularly for those who lived closest to the orchard areas, equally serious were respiratory issues stemming from the chemical sprays.
Living in an area like that, it was more or less a no-brainer that the closer one was to pesticide and herbicide spraying, the greater the potential for health risks. For me, it’s hard to imagine rationalizing living around these chemicals as “Oh, they’re no big deal.” Potentially they ARE a big deal, and we don’t need statistics that prove it! Anyone with concerns about these kinds of chemicals should probably not live in an area where they are used routinely, which has to be worse than the need to spray orchards on a regular but far from daily basis.
For those who feel that there is NO risk at all in pesticide and herbicide spraying, TV does indeed offer a wonderful lifestyle. For those who feel there is some concern, they can choose to avoid living by areas with the greatest concentration of these chemicals, such as facing a golf course (which are ironically called “premium lots,” just as lots around a manmade catchment basis are called “premium” because they have a water view!). And for those who know the horror stories and/or are particularly traumatized at even just the thought of deliberately choosing the exposure, frankly those people need to find an altogether environmentally different place to live, where the focus is not on pristine lawns and even more pristine golf courses.
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Thoughtfully said and very good points made. I am afraid of spraying and always have been. I get the cats inside from the lanai when Massey comes and worry about the young person who handles those poisons. We have lived on golf courses for forty years, and both Helene and I have had breast cancer, BUT so have nine (I have to sit down and think of how many, but at least nine and on fathers side only) of our family members who don't live on golf course and we have been tested and it is NOT the Brc gene.
Some people have said that they would ride their bikes behind the mosquito spraying trucks as kids.
I think your point about this place being a choice is well made. AND the point about people seeking pristine lawns. I agree with both and yet we have lawn service to get rid of cinch bugs, fire ants etc.
I think about this for awhile until my mind is diverted to some other worry. I really do think that most people use the same amount of pesticides on their lawns and use them as frequently as golf courses do, and not just here, everywhere.
It is a double edged sword, banning all pesticides. I have read that they have made it illegal to use the one thing that would kill bedbugs and they are becoming an increasing danger.
(Was that last point a red herring, Rubicon? AND the one about riding bikes behind spraying trucks?) Trying to follow the rules of good debate here.