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Editors Note: This is a guest post written by, Cascia Talbert the editor of Healthy Moms an online publication for moms to network and find information on health, family, parenting, pregnancy and woman’s issues.

What exactly are pesticides and why do people use them? This article will explain what they are, why they are hazardous to your health and share some safe alternatives that you can use in your home garden.

According to Wikipedia, “A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. A pesticide may be a chemical substance, a biological agent, antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest.” Pest can include anything from bugs, snails, ants, fungus, weeds, rodents or anything that can disturb your home or garden.

Beyond Pesticides.org states that, “78 million households in the US use home and garden pesticides and suburban lawns and gardens receive more pesticide applications per acre than agriculture.” That is a lot of pesticide use. Out of the 30 most common pesticides used on lawns, 19 of them contain carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 can damage human reproductive systems, 26 can cause liver or kidney damage and 11 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system. Pregnant women, infants, children the elderly and ill are at the greatest risk from pesticide exposure.

It is especially important that you keep these substances away from your children. Children take in more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults. Their developing organs make it harder for them to detoxify toxins. Exposure to pesticides can also increase the risk of your child developing asthma. (source, Beyond Pesticides.org, Lawn Pesticide Facts and Figures, accessed May 28, 2009)

To prevent these health risks due to pesticide exposure there are safer alternatives that you can use in your home garden. Here are some suggested tips:

*Hot water can kill most weeds. Make sure the water is boiling and pour it directly on the weeds you would like to kill.

*Try putting 10 oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide in 1 qt. of water. This can be used to treat tress and plants as a natural fungicide, insecticide and weed killer.

*Vinegar can also kill weeds. Adding lemon juice to the vinegar increases the weed killing power.

*Epsom salt is known to be poisonous to insects. You can make a spray bottle with Epsom salt and water to ward off Mexican bean beetles.

*Another way to keep insects away from your home garden is by mixing a poison that is nontoxic to humans with food that insects find attractive. For example: oatmeal and plaster of Paris, or cocoa powder, flour and borax. Be careful when working with borax. This is toxic to pets and can cause serious health problems in humans if not use properly. *For a home made safe non toxic insecticide try mixing 8 oz of black strap molasses or white sugar and 8 oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide in 1 gallon of water.

If you use these tips on your home garden this summer you can help keep the environment free from toxic pesticides and your family from the health risks associated with them.

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