Can those insect sprays!

For more than thirty years ago, Foresight has been warning about the dangers of exposing prospective parents and pregnant and breastfeeding women to the chemical cocktail that comes from the vast range of commonly available household and personal care products. Supermarket shelves are lined with the offenders and kitchen, bathroom and laundry cupboards are filled with them. They’ve become so much a part of modern life that educating consumers about simpler alternatives which are less potentially toxic to eggs, sperm, foetus and infants is an uphill battle. But Dr. Joan Spyker, an eminent toxicologist says it simply ... “Nearly every chemical to which the pregnant woman is exposed, will ultimately reach the foetus.” It’s a simple equation, the developing embryo and foetus lack   the mature detoxification mechanisms that deal with toxic chemicals. I’d add that every chemical to which the prospective parent is exposed has the potential to damage the germ cells.

Now, Paediatrics reports that commonly used insect sprays for home use, even the ones that purportedly are ‘safer’ can affect the development and learning abilities of young children. In utero or early infancy exposure through regular use of domestic insect sprays has been linked to delayed mental development at age of three. 

I simply ask ‘where have the researchers been all this time?’ and ‘where is the legislation that requires these products to be listed as dangerous until proven safe rather than the reverse!’