June 30, 2022 will be the 60th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, the groundbreaking book that described the ways in which DDT entered the food chain and accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals and human beings, causing cancer and genetic damage.
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring
Unfortunately, we still have not heeded Carson’s warning. Here is a database of pesticide-induced diseases: https://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/pesticide-induced-diseases-database/brain-and-nervous-system-disorders
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What am I? There’s a variety of ways I could answer. I’m a set of genes and a series of choices. I’m a voice. A body. A story. If pressed, I might say we’re all different iterations of the same story — the story of love rediscovering itself.
You know what I’m not? Glyphosate (“Roundup”). Polyethylene glycol (PEG). Perfluorooctanoic acid (also known as PFOA or C8), PFAS—”forever chemicals.” And a thousand other things to which we are relentlessly exposed and gavaged.
Because these chemicals are not native to the universe, they confuse my brain’s understanding of time. Unlike everything else—sunlight, cherries, dirt, mist, rain—in them I cannot accurately gauge light’s density and speed. They confuse my DNA, and damage me.
I eat whatever I want. But if it isn’t organic, I don’t put it in my mouth or on my skin.
