Pesticide-Parkinsons link...

[Dr Mordrid]

http://sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000BE289-5BAD-149D-9BAD83414B7F0000

Study Bolsters Link between Pesticides and Parkinson's

People who have been exposed to pesticides are 70 percent more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who haven't, according to a new study. The results suggest that any pesticide exposure, whether occupationally related or not, will increase a person's risk of the disease. This means that using pesticides in the home or garden may have similarly harmful effects as working with the chemicals on a farm or as a pest controller.

Can't say I'm suprized since many pesticides are neurotoxins.

Dr. Mordrid

[TnT]

Slightly off topic but I just saw on Mythbusters the episode where they did experiments to discover the cause of exploding trousers in 1930s New Zealand. Apparently the pesticide they used at the time was extremely flammable and would also explode with high impact.

[Jon P. Inghram]

That would be sodium chlorate, they used it to combat Ragwort.

[Brian Ellis]

Everyone on this earth is exposed to pesticides. Blood samples from tropical rain forest nomads in Irian Jaya, who have never been exposed to "modern civilisation" and its "benefits" have reveled traces of pesticides of all three major families (insecticides, fungicides and phytocides).

In more "civilised" places, they are in the air we breathe and the food we eat (even so-called organic food). There is no way we can stop being poisoned. The question is finding the balance between the benefits and the bad effects. Unfortunately, I feel the benefits have been much over-rated, skewing the balance to the over-exposure side.

[rylan]

Haha I saw that mythbusters episode. Seeing the pants explose into a fireball was awesome when they hit it with the hammer!

[Dr Mordrid]

Sodium Chlorate makes a pretty decent improvised plastic explosive

Dr. Mordrid