Green Junction - The High Cost of a Perfect Lawn: What Chemical Exposure Means for Our Health

In recent walks around my neighborhood, I noted the odor of lawn fertilizers. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides – a choice to make lawns look more like carpet than natural grass/plant growth – exposes people, animals and the environment to toxins. When the odor is detectable, the air is contaminated. We breathe and ingest these chemicals simply by being outside after applications of lawn “care.” The evidence that we are harming ourselves due to the desire for perfect lawns continues to rise.      

A new study determined that 485 chemicals in US pesticide products are linked to breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, there has been a steady increase in breast cancer rates, about 1% per year, since 2012. The rate of increase is higher for women under age 50. Those who study disease risk factors note that known factors, such as genetics, obesity, or smoking, do not account for the rising rates of breast cancer. Over these years, the production and use of chemical pesticides have increased alongside the rise in cancers.

                The methods to assess chemical toxicity, according to researchers and health advocates, do not consider the effects of multiple chemical exposures. The process evaluates individual, pure chemicals, which do not reflect the formulations that are actually used. Experts insist that new methods are needed to effectively determine the risks of the increasing amounts of chemicals used in fertilizers, plastics additives and numerous other products. According to the National Institute of Health, “from 2010 through 2019, the incidence of 14 cancer types increased among people under age 50.” The rising rates of cancers in younger people should be reason enough to devote more resources and attention to better understand health risks associated with our rising use of stuff that contains lots of chemicals.