Pestcide-Free Valentine's Day

"For the guy who doesn't do sonnets, flowers can be the most straightforward expression of love on Valentine's Day. But if you're going to let your bouquet do the talking, be sure it's saying the right thing. About $200 million worth of roses sold in the U.S. are grown out of the country, mostly in Central and Latin America, where over-fumigating with toxic pesticides is common, protective equipment scarce and exposed workers risk getting asthma. In Ecuador, 35 out of 72 children tested by the Harvard School of Public Health had been exposed to organophosphate pesticides in the womb while their mothers worked for flower companies. These children showed both higher blood pressure and poorer spatial ability than children without prenatal exposures. And they may continue to be exposed through contaminated food or home pesticide use, causing significant increases in reaction times to stimuli."

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