Human Immunity Endangered By Pesticides

C. Kadin

1997

Published in:

The Northwest Technocrat, 1st quarter 1997, No. 346

In an article in the March 9, 1996 issue of SCIENCE NEWS, Janet Raloff, pointed out some pretty scary things that have been allowed to happen on our planet earth, all in the name of good business practices. The pesticide companies do not seem to feel responsible at all for what they are doing to Third-World countries -- selling pesticides to them after they are banned in this country. And, to make matters worse, they do not even educate those people about proper use of those chemicals. They were found spraying without any body protection like face masks, gloves or the wearing of shoes.

In a study by World Resources Institute on the immunotoxicity of widely used pesticides -- including organochlorines such as DDT, (no longer used in this country) organophospates such as malathion, and carbamates such as aldicarb, they found infections were a leading cause of death in the developing countries and suspect pesticides to be a hidden killer -- along with poor nutrition and poor sanitation. Also, they found a high concentration of organochlorines in Baltic herring, thus affecting the harbor seals. We humans eat Baltic herring also! What else is going into the sea that is one of our main sources in the food chain?

In the former Soviet Union countries, they are finding pesticide levels above what they call accepted standards, causing respiratory diseases, skin disease, ear infection, tuberculosis (once thought cured and is now rearing its ugly head again), plus dental problems. Scientists documented suppressed T cells, the white blood cells that defend our immune systems, and the extent of these T cells being suppressed corresponds with an individual's exposure to pesticide levels.

The Inuit children in Canada's northern Hudson Bay area were found to be at risk of infection from nursing on human milk that was laced with organchlorides. In some cases those children could not even be vaccinated, because their immune systems were so compromised that they did not produce any antibodies. Those people, at one time, lived in the only really pristine part of the Continent. We should ask: What are we doing to ourselves? Big business breeds on our ignorance and the acceptance of all that they do.

The FDA is doing a study on these toxicology problems (they claim), but, we know from past records, that they do not want to rock the boat where the large chemical companies are concerned -- there are many big bucks involved here. And, whatever is good for business gets priority. Even Albert Munson of the Medical College in Richmond, Virginia thinks that this problem is not too serious here in this country, that it is mainly a Third-World problem. And as long as the people who are in control of things in this country get away with it -- we will not see anything change. How much can people really put up with before they will get up off their respective you-know-whats, and demand a complete change from what we have now?