What you need to know about pesticides and Louisiana

Pesticide Spraying and Health Effects - Grace Ziem, MD

EPA: In Case of Pesticide Poisoning

Beyond Pesticides: What To Do In A Pesticide Emergency

HEAL: How to report a pesticide exposure incident

New Central Hotline for US Poison Control Centers 1-800-222-1222

Chemical Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability

Louisiana's Department of Health

Louisiana's cancer prevention plan unveiled - death rate is now third highest in the nation

Pesticides and Cancer

Avoid pesticides, Ontario doctors warn

Study by the Ontario College of Family Physicians

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Enviro Health Action

Did you know.....
Louisiana ranks 50th and the least healthy state for 2004 results

Louisiana is at the bottom of the list among the states in quality of life issues such as health and education. This reflects poorly on the state and its leadership.

USA in a fragile state of health, report says

L.E.A.N.'s website says:
Louisiana Is Least Healthy State Again - That makes us 50th in twelve of the last thirteen surveys. It doesn't have to be this way.

WARNING
Cure could be almost as bad as the disease
Beyond Pesticides recommends that Louisiana communities follow the lead of cities in New York, New Jersey and Florida in announcing when and where pesticides will be applied so families can take those precautions.

How Important Is Your Health?

American Academy of Family Physicians Report What can physicians do to head off the disease in their own communities?

Physicians can lobby to have public areas kept free of standing water, where the mosquitoes breed. One's own property shouldn't be overlooked either. Persons who become infected are usually infected by mosquitoes in close proximity to their homes.

Spraying is the least effective means of controlling West Nile virus for a number of reasons. It's expensive, it kills beneficial insects, it's ineffective in wooded and foliated areas, and even if spraying kills adults, new mosquitoes will emerge within days.

Does "the dose make the poison?" It is no longer safe to assume that lower doses have lower impacts than higher doses. The science used to establish public exposure standards needs to incorporate this new concept.

Is Louisiana's Office of Public Health keeping the public in the dark about the dangers to pesticide exposures?

Do you know what to do in case of a pesticide emergency?

Do you know what precautionary measures to take to minimize exposure to dangerous pesticides?

OPH's sites:
Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program
Environmental Epidemiology & Toxicology

The local offices contacted by Informed Choices did not even know about its own programs, such as:

Health related pesticide incident report program

LA Registry of Pesticide Hypersensitive Individuals Program

Brochure: What You Need to Know About Pesticides and Your Health in Louisiana (Send a SASE to Informed Choices and we'll mail you the brochure)

Worse Living Through Chemistry
Louisiana Governor Recognizes Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

For more information about the registry program and neighbor notification laws, Click here.

Does your physician know how to diagnose and manage pesticide poisoning?

According to EPA, "pesticide poisoning is a commonly under-diagnosed illness in America today. Despite recommendations by the Institute of Medicine and others urging the integration of environmental medicine into medical education, health care providers generally receive a very limited amount of training in occupational and environmental health, and in pesticide-related illnesses, in particular". Click here to order EPA's handbook. Order several copies and give one to your physician.

RS 3:3208 In Louisiana, each physician who treats a medical complaint which the physician diagnoses as caused by pesticide poisoning shall provide notice of the poisoning to the commissioner. The notice shall be provided in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner for that purpose. Acts 1985, No. 32,§ 1. http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=86184.