The chemicals used 
 
in residential pesticides 
 
have changed 
 
in recent years due to 
 
harmful effects 
 
associated with pesticides 
 
known as the 
 
organophosphorus type. 
 
Scientists 
 
at Columbia University 
 
in New York, USA 
 
evaluated the newer type 
 
of pesticides 
 
known as pyrethroids, 
 
whose longer-term 
 
effects were not known. 
 
Specifically, they looked 
 
at the effect of exposure 
 
to permethrin 
 
as a commonly-sold 
 
insecticide, 
 
as well as PBO, which is 
 
a common additive 
 
to the formulations. 
 
 
The researchers analyzed 
 
air samples 
 
in the environments of 
 
725 pregnant women, 
 
then tracked 
 
the brain development 
 
of their children 
 
over the next three years. 
 
At age three, the children 
 
whose mothers had been 
 
exposed to higher than 
 
4.3 nanograms of PBO 
 
scored 3.9 points lower 
 
on mental 
 
development tests. 
 
Lead scientist, 
 
Dr. Megan Horton, 
 
stated, “This finding 
 
is worrisome because 
 
mental development 
 
index scores 
 
are more predictive 
 
of school readiness.” 
 
Dr. Horton and 
 
other experts suggest that 
 
families avoid using 
 
chemical insecticide 
 
sprays and instead 
 
seek to use natural 
 
control measures such as 
 
sealing cracks in walls 
 
and maintaining a clean 
 
home environment. 
 
Our gratitude, Dr. Horton 
 
and colleagues, 
 
for your revealing work 
 
in documenting 
 
the adverse effects of 
 
pyrethroid insecticides. 
 
Let us strive to halt 
 
the use of all such 
 
harmful substances 
 
so that babies, mothers, 
 
and families thrive 
 
in health and well-being.
 
During a September 2009 
 
videoconference 
 
in South Korea, 
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai 
 
addressed 
 
the harm caused 
 
by chemical pesticides 
 
to humans and animals 
 
alike, speaking at the 
 
same time of alternatives 
 
that seek to protect 
 
all life.
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai : Another example of 
 
a practice causing harm 
 
to both animals and Earth 
 
is the use of 
 
chemical pesticides. 
 
If you can imagine, 
 
over 5 billion pounds 
 
of pesticides are used 
 
throughout the world 
 
each year! 
 
And only about 10% - 
 
10%! - of these chemicals 
 
even reach the areas 
 
where they are 
 
intended for.
 
So the rest? 
 
What happens? 
 
They go into the air 
 
and water 
 
where they have been 
 
linked to everything 
 
from cancer 
 
of humans and animals 
 
to oceanic dead zones. 
 
Since organic 
 
vegan farming 
 
does not use pesticides 
 
and does not 
 
have anything to do 
 
with livestock raising, 
 
milk production or 
 
any such harmful activity, 
 
it could be called 
 
a practice of compassion, 
 
in line with Heaven, 
 
with values that are echoed 
 
in many spiritual paths 
 
and religious teachings.
 
Organic vegan farming, 
 
with its approach 
 
of causing the least harm 
 
to others, 
 
offers the least burden of 
 
bad karma (retribution). 
 
We need people 
 
who distribute all 
 
the necessary information 
 
for organic farming. 
 
This is truly the way 
 
of the future. 
 
It is the way 
 
to our ultimate humanity 
 
and brotherhood among 
 
all beings on the planet. 
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164883.html, 
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/02/12/Common-insecticide-may-hurt-child-IQ/UPI-66491297548602/,
 
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/