The Dangers of Home Pesticide Use to Your Family

Pesticides and Bug Sprays Put Your Children's Health at Risk

Jun 12, 2009

Pesticide use, even when administered by a professional, can have short term and long term health effects for your family. However, there are many safe alternatives.

People who actively protect themselves from bugs are often using too much pesticide or using it incorrectly. Overuse of pesticides, both natural and conventional, very often creates lasting chemical residue in your backyard. With every application of pesticide, even sometimes if done correctly, causes a build up of residue of chemicals and dangerous toxins on the surfaces of your backyard. The toxins in pesticide residue can easily enter your body through your skin, eyes, nose, and mouth.

Dangers of Pesticide and Bug Spray in the Long and Short Term

Long term exposure to such chemicals is harmful to your health and wellness in many different ways. Many pesticides even contain chemicals with carcinogenic effects. Short term exposure can give you a runny nose or a headache, and in extreme cases flu-like symptoms.

Children are Especially at Risk

Children are especially at risk. Normal behavior of children playing outside makes them closer to surfaces with pesticide residue and more likely to touch the surfaces, roll all over them, and then touch their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. In addition to their behavior, the younger a child is, the less able the immune system and circulatory systems will be able to handle toxic chemicals. Younger children are also affected by lower amounts of chemicals.

Safer Alternatives are Available

To protect yourself, use nature to your advantage. Lower the amount of pesticides you use and attract the annoying bugs’ natural predators to your yard to deal with them for you. You can still get rid of mosquitoes, biting flies, and all the gross flying things that hover over your head and land on your food, you just have to use nature as your weapon, instead of chemicals.

Build a birdhouse with birdseed that attracts bluebirds. These will eat most kinds of insects that bother people and make pleasant sounds to wake up to in the morning. Build a house with 2 holes to get in and out, 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter. Bluebirds are also usually more attracted to the birdhouse if you don’t put a perch for them. Bluebirds will most likely make a nest in the house and eat up all the annoying bugs in your yard. This is a great site with instructions on bluebird and how to build the perfect house for them. http://www.laspilitas.com/bluebird.htm

One of the most effective methods is to grow plants in the parsley or sunflower families in your yard. Both of these types of plants will attract insects like assassin bugs and parasite wasps that eat the more bothersome insects. These types of bugs don’t bite you and don’t buzz in your ear. They are definitely the lesser of two evils.

Safe Alternatives are Well Worth the Effort

Bugs buzz in your ear, land on your food, worsen the effects of sweaty hot weather, and even carry illnesses that are easily transferable to you and your family. However, in fending off these bugs, there is no use in simply changing the risk you are giving your family. Avoid chemicals that can harm your children and loved ones and use natural and safe forms of bug control. It is absolutely worth the extra effort.

The copyright of the article The Dangers of Home Pesticide Use to Your Family in Kids' Safety Products is owned by Devon Lantry. Permission to republish The Dangers of Home Pesticide Use to Your Family in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.