By Paula Zavala
Health Reporter

CHICAGO - Pesticides have been used for many years. In earlier times they were a protection against fungi and insect pests. The great increase in the use of pesticides occurred with the development of new organic chemicals following World Wars I and II.

In addition to chemicals for the control of fungi and insects, new developments were nematocides, herbicides, rodenticides, avicides, defoliants, wood preservatives, etc. The use of chemicals helped increase productivity, but caused great concern about their effect on human health and safety. On the other hand, chemicals did help tremendously from the standpoint of protecting against diseases that were carried by insects, especially mosquitoes.

Summer is here and many are directly exposed to a variety of chemicals when gardening, mowing the lawn, or biking through the woods in the northwest suburbs. Adverse information has caused great concern about pesticides and this is especially so since our societies have undergone great changes from agricultural to industrial ones. Listed below are some essential pros and cons about pesticides:

Pesticides

Pros

-Contribute to the increased production of food

-Sanitize drinking and recreational water

-Protect private and public places from structural damage

-Save millions of lives from malaria, the black plague, and typhoid

-Rid areas of harmful pests that cause or carry diseases


Cons

-63% of pesticides used in lawns are carcinogenic

-Lawn pesticides are able to increase the risk of childhood leukemia by seven times

-Cause various forms of cancer, liver damage, asthma, and leukemia

-Promote genetic resistance and farmers lose more crops today than they did back in 1940

-95% of pesticides reach areas other than their target such as air, water, food, and species that weren’t targeted

-Kill natural pest enemies


Additionally, we rounded up some facts you may find interesting:

Facts

-About 90% of U.S. households use pesticides

-Approximately 110,000 pesticide poisonings are reported from the poison control center each year in the U.S.

-Suburban lawns use more pesticides per acre than agricultural land

-Eating organic food decreases our exposure to pesticides

-In 1986, the EPA reduced pesticide use by 1%

-In 1995, $255 million was spent on research on pesticides or pest management

-In 1995, the U.S. spent $10.4 billion on pesticide sales

-13 out of the 18 most commonly used pesticides have been found in the Great Lakes Basin

-Pesticide levels increase in the winter for children when more food is imported


Le Prestige suggests following healthier and more environmentally-friendly options in place of pesticides:

-Handpick weed pests; you save a few bucks on the chemicals and you also get quite a workout

-Fool the pest (crop rotation) and use insect perfumes

-Provide homes for pest enemies while scalding the them

-Use beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, bees, and spiders, to get rid of pests


Be sure to enjoy those summer days in the garden, but always be aware of pesticides, the silent killers.

by Sandy Chang
Political Contributor

CHICAGO - While six of the city's 12 mental health clinics have now been closed for nearly two months, Chicago's Mental Health Movement, a group of clients and advocates demanding the facilities regain city funding, is not letting them go quietly.

On Tuesday, protesters took over the Chicago Department of Public Health and refused to leave until they had a promise the six closed clinics would be reopened, and a letter of resignation from Health Commissioner Dr. Bechara Choucair, according to a release from the Movement.

Six protesters were arrested for trespassing Tuesday night, among at least 50 advocates who joined the demonstration..

Many of the activists involved in the public health department occupation came from the Woodlawn Clinic, where Mental Health Movement members have been camped out since it closed in early April. Another group of protesters have also set up a protest site outside the also-closed Logan Square Clinic since mid-May.

Tuesday's demonstrations marked the two-month anniversary of the clinic closures, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel approved, and also commemorated the death of patient leader, Helen Morley, one week earlier, according to a release from the Mental Health Movement. Morley, a member of the opposition, was quoted repeatedly in the press emphasizing her reliance on the Beverly-Morgan Park Mental Health Center saying "if you close my clinic, I will die." Some advocates say they believe the stress of the closures contributed to her death.

Throughout the months of protests, demonstrations and arrests, the city has stood by the decision to halve their mental health service providers, which Emanuel has said will save the cash-strapped city some $3 million.

Dr. Choucair, the subject of Tuesday's protest, has argued that all displaced patients will continue to have access to quality care. But the Mental Health Movement has consistently pushed back, saying the consolidations will prevent some people from seeing their doctors or getting their medications.

"Our neighbors, friends and family members are not receiving their services because the clinics are no longer in their communities. Where will these people go when the only available facilities are miles away? Out in the street?" mental health advocate Amy Saucedo told Le Prestige.

"Hospitals, like Cook County, are overcrowded," Saucedo elaborated. "We are pleading to the city to help its citizens. We pay taxes: it's the least they can do."

by Jerry Arroyo
Los Angeles Correspondent

Updated: 06/03/2012, 11:35 PM.

Working the night shift is linked with an increased risk of breast cancer in women, a new study suggests.

HealthDay reported that risk for breast cancer was highest among female shift workers who said that they are "morning people" instead of "night" people.

Medical News Today explained some possible explanations for the differences.

The researchers believe that one of the reasons could be that morning types are more susceptible to body clock disruption. Whilst "Owls" were twice as likely to develop breast cancer, the overall risk was even lower for "early birds" who did not work night shifts.

The researchers state that although insufficient sunlight has been associated with the development of various cancers, they found that those who worked night shifts tended to sunbathe more often than those working during the day. The study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine included 210 women who developed breast cancer, and 900 women without breast cancer between 1964 and 1999 who were all part of the Danish Army, HealthDay reported. The researchers found that the increased breast cancer risk was seen with women who worked a night shift more than two times a week.

Other studies, including a 2001 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and a 2005 study in mice in the journal Cancer Research have shown similar links between night shift work and breast cancer.

"Among shift workers, quite a number of factors could affect the mechanisms that control the body's circadian rhythms," Paul Rodgers, Ph.D., study researcher of the 2001 study who works at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said in a statement. "One is stress, considering the kinds of jobs that require shift work, from police, fire and rescue work to nuclear-power-plant monitoring to factory work, medicine and nursing."

However, researchers said in a 2007 review of the evidence published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health that evidence is still inconclusive regarding shift work and general cancer risk. That study included about 3 million men and women from Sweden, though researchers acknowledged that only a small percentage of the people in the study met the requirements for "shift work."

Other research has linked shift work with health issues including weight problems and obesity, diabetes and sleep problems.