Pesticides and polio

By: Jonathan Benson

One of the most common arguments people often use to defend vaccinations alleges that vaccines are responsible for eradicating epidemic diseases of the past such as polio and smallpox. But a recent investigative review put together by Jeffry John Aufderheide over at VacTruth.com explains not only why this claim is untrue, but also why pesticides may have been responsible for spurring these disease outbreaks in the first place.
As part of a trivia series on polio, Aufderheide cites several studies showing that the widespread use of chemical pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, and heptachlor following World War II, actual exacerbated viral disease outbreaks across the United States.
On a visual graph, it is clearly seen that the production and use of pesticides throughout the mid-20th century is directly correlated to polio outbreaks, including the worst polio epidemic in known history, which occurred in 1952.
You can view the graph here:
http://vactruth.com/2012/06/03/7-trivia-facts-about-polio/
According to a report compiled by the Secretary of the Interior that was presented before the 85th Congress back in 1958, polio really only became a problem after the 1940s, when chemical companies began to produce large amounts of DDT, heptachlor, dieldrin, tetraethyl pyrophosphate (TEPP), malathion, benzene hexachloride (BHC) and other pesticide chemicals for use on agricultural crops. Prior to that time, polio was not nearly as virulent or problematic as many people believe it was.
As DDT and other pesticides were eventually phased out, cases of polio also began to decline, which suggests that vaccines may not have been primarily responsible for eradicating polio. Improvements in sanitation, which are hardly ever mentioned by mainstream health authorities, also played a major role in eradicating polio.

Pesticide-contaminated milk also responsible for polio outbreaks

Many people during the 1950s became ill as a result of pesticide-contaminated milk, much of which ended up having to be quietly pulled from store shelves in subsequent years. This contaminated milk was also known to be a primary carrier of polio, and was directly responsible for spreading the disease until the contaminating pesticides were eventually phased out, and the milk supply effectively remediated.
Interestingly, milk-induced disease outbreaks were responsible for the later creation of milk pasteurization mandates. But it was the pesticides and their tolerance of polio virus, not the fact that milk was raw, that was responsible for spreading disease. And yet the belief that raw milk is inherently dangerous is still prevalent today, while few have any real understanding of the role pesticide-tainted milk played in spreading disease, and particularly polio.
Right around the time that dangerous pesticides were being retired and sanitation was being improved, authorities released a polio vaccine that they claimed would eradicate the disease. The precise timing of this strategic release would later be used to claim that the vaccine, and not agricultural and sanitation improvements, was responsible for ending polio.

Revisionist history continues to fuel myth that vaccines are responsible for eradicating disease

Because of the way drug companies and vaccine manufacturers have influenced governmental and health authorities over the years, the myth that vaccines are responsible for eradicating disease has prevailed. Truth be told, the polio vaccine has been shown to actually cause many of the paralysis symptoms associated with polio, including in India where there has been a 1,200 percent increase vaccine-associated polio paralysis (VAPP) since the introduction of massive polio vaccine campaigns throughout the country

Sources for this article include:
http://vactruth.com/2012/06/03/7-trivia-facts-about-polio/
http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com

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Pesticides are penetrating deep into plants tissues

Over the last 30 years, the use of pesticides has spiked around the world. People now pour 2.5 million tons of these chemicals into the environment annually, contributing to a $35 billion industry run by global corporations. To make matters worse, the more people use pesticides, the more ineffective they become.

Why are crop yields lost to insects greater than ever before, when pesticide use is at an all time high?

Take a look at the citrus greening crisis happening in places like Florida and California. Citrus greening is a disease spread by the psyllid insect. This insect contaminates citrus trees by leaving a trail of bacteria that ultimately kills the trees. Florida is currently witnessing a 10 percent reduction in produce because of this.
Problems like these exist because pesticides are killing beneficial insects, like lady beetles, that were created to feasts on pests like psyllids. By killing lady beetles, pesticides destroy a balanced ecosystem.

So are pesticides doing more harm than good?

Pesticides are ravaging the environment. Farmers and researchers are now witnessing the death of entire bee colonies because of pesticides. Billions of bees are disappearing from their natural environment, as they cannot handle the poisonous nectar they're pollinating from contaminated flowers.

Systemic pesticides use on the rise

Some people are completely aware of pesticides' ability to disrupt the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands. These glands control hormones in the human body which guide the development, growth, gender, behavior, and reproductive systems.
That's why some people wash their fruit and vegetables before eating them. The sad reality is that pesticides exist not only as residue, but are also pent up and stored inside plant tissues. In fact, systemic pesticide use is on the rise. These chemicals, first used in 1998, have now spread to most of the conventional food supply. Systemic pesticides travel from the soil and are absorbed into vegetation, moving through the xylem and extending into the leaves and flowers, where they infect pollen and nectar. Four classes of pesticides have become commonplace and include imidacloprids, which are applied to vegetables like tomatoes and leafy greens. Thiamethoxam is typically used as seed "treatment" for corn, but is now applied to soil for fruit and vegetables. Clothianidin is also a seed contaminant, used on canola, cereals, sugar beets, and potatoes. Dinotefuran is either applied to soil or sprayed directly on leafy greens, including cucumber crops.

Stunning pesticide levels in USDA tests

Tests conducted by the US Department of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007 report stunning levels of systemic pesticides in conventional produce. They found that 70 percent of broccoli and 74 percent of fresh lettuce contained imidacloprid residues. Heavy levels of thiamethoxam were found in strawberries and sweet peppers.
Worse yet, the tests found imidacloprid levels of up to 550 parts per billion in eucalyptus nectar and pollen - three times the amount needed to kill honeybees!
Water droplets that exude from a plant's surface also tested positive for systemic pesticides; plants are practically bleeding out chemicals!
The Journal of Economic Entomology reports, "When bees consume guttation drops, collected from plants grown from neonicotinoid-coated seeds, they encounter death within a few minutes."
Additionally, systemic nitroguanidine pesticides can last up to 500 days or more in soil, affecting the ecosystem for up to two seasons, poisoning water, soil, worms, beetles, and bees which all play an important role in a thriving environment.

Four simple actions to make a difference

• Stop using pesticides altogether and appreciate a balanced ecosystem.
• Shop locally, but more importantly, shop organically. Put your money where your morals are.
• Realize that the government is not protecting the population from harmful chemicals. Even though they have more regulatory agencies than ever before, big government is actually permitting these disease spreading, Earth-ravaging chemicals to persist.
• Collectively make your voice heard by signing a petition. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-systemic-pesticide
Sources for this article include
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-systemic-pesticide
http://www.motherearthnews.com
http://www.panna.org/issues/food-agriculture/pesticides-on-food
http://www.organicgardeningguru.com/pesticides.html
http://www.panna.org/issues/food-agriculture/pesticides-on-food

^{Source: http://www.naturalnews.com}

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