Did you guys listen to the news yesterday? They spoke of a study that confirms the effects of pesticides on the IQ levels of children. I was well aware of this as a result of reading the fascinating book called
Raising Elijah. It's being released today--Earth Day and the connections couldn't be more clear.
Sandra Steingraber is an internationally known ecologist and environmental educator. She has lectured and spoken publicly on the environmental dangers and challenges facing our country in the past and well into the future. While she carries academic titles and rewards of renown, such as the Rachel Carson Leadership Award, perhaps her most treasured title is that of mother to her two children, Elijah and Faith.
Raising Elijah is one part memoir and one part educational treatise, but all informative and entertaining.
Steingraber discusses the ongoing environmental crises our nation faces, but does so in a way that makes it understandable to the layperson. She alerts readers to the dangers in their daily environment and how it can affect the must vulnerable citizens: our precious children. Things that we never think of during our daily meanderings are rife with danger: the playground equipment, your child’s plastic raincoat. Playground equipment is often made of pressure-treated wood. The wood is treated with pesticides; this includes arsenic, a carcinogenic. It leeches out of the equipment; it leeches out, into the soil. Your children put their hands in their mouths…you fill in the blanks. The same issues apply to many backyard decks. Ever take a whiff of your child’s plastic raincoat and your shower curtain. The fumes have questionable effects on the human body.
