Stop trying to scare people into submission. You're quoting Caroline Cox who is a fear-monger with a clear financial interest in convincing you and everyone else that pesticides are destroying the world. She pays her rent by scaring people. She's the editor of the Journal of Pesticide Reform and works for the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.
To make matters worse, you took the worst of her fear-mongering and then skimmed off just the bits that interested you. Hopefully people will read the full document so they can find the gems of wisdom like "There are no publicly available studies of the carcinogenicity of permethrin-containing insecticide products." Why didn't you include that information when you quoted her?
Here's another great one from Caroline, "Permethrin-containing products can be irritating to both eyes and skin." Really? That's shocking. Will an aerosol product containing mineral spirits actually iritate my eyes? Will a non-aerosol product containing ethanol, dimethyl ether, and nitromethane cause skin irritation? That's amazing! I never would have guessed. Notice how she very carefully DOES NOT say that permethrin is to blame for the irritation of eyes and skin?
But wait, she's not done frightening you yet. She says (and you blindly quote), "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified permethrin as a carcinogen". If you read the document, you'll find that Caroline says something different when she needs to be able to annotate the statement, "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), permethrin is a possible human carcinogen". Saying that permethrin is a possible carcinogen and saying that it is a carcinogen are two completely different things. So which is the truth? Why can't she just be consistant and clear in what she says?
Maybe it's because the truth doesn't fit her prejudices and doesn't work so well as a terrorist tool. Let's see what the EPA really says about permethrin on page 3 of the red fact sheet.: * "the Agency classified permethrin as "Likely to be Carcinogenic to Humans" by the oral route." So what they're saying is, DON'T DRINK IT, DUMMY!
My buffalo wings are ready so I'm going to go have lunch now. No, I didn't put permethrin on the buffalo wings, but I will be eating them on my screen porch where the screens have all been treated with permethrin and the underside of the picnic table has been washed down with permethrin. I'll probably nap in my permethrin treated hammock afterwards. Later today when I'm trying to plant that philodendron my wife has fallen in love with, I'll be wearing socks, shorts, and a shirt all treated with permethrin. My exposed skin will not be smeared with DEET because that stuff dissolves plastic and that's just creepy. Instead, I'll be wearing 100% organic Badger Anti-Bug Balm because it's non-toxic just like permethrin and makes me smell fruity!
Boris
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