Children from houses where hanging insecticidal strips are used are at almost twice the risk of developing leukaemia. This rises to three times the risk if the strips were used in the last three months of pregnancy. Dichlorvos, the main insecticide used in hanging strips is classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen.

The researchers* also found that children living in houses with gardens treated with chemicals were almost four times more likely to contract soft tissue sarcomas, a type of cancer.

* from the North Carolina State Center for Health and Environmental Studies

Ed.- (i) Another study showed that dogs were twice as likely to develop cancers if their owners treated their lawns with 2,4-D.

(ii) Dichlorvos, the main insecticide used in hanging strips is classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen. 2,4-D, the main weedkiller used in gardens, has been linked with cancer in farm workers by several studies.

Two UK Government expert committees have called on the Government to continue to pursue a ban on any products containing the organophosphate dichlorvos (DDVP). A ban would already be in force were it not for a vigorous legal campaign by DDVP’s manufacturer Amvac (Boots has decided not to wait for a ban and has already removed the two products containing dichlorvos from their shelves).

The pesticide, a highly toxic organophosphate designed to disrupt the nervous system, has been linked to skin, liver and possibly breast cancer. “A precautionary approach should be adopted and no (safety) threshold could be assumed for the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of dichlorvos”, stated the UK Department of Health’s Committee on Mutagenicity.
As well as being the key ingredient in many branded insect sprays and traps, it is often used by gardeners and farmers to control pests. In the past, hundreds of tonnes were also deployed by salmon farmers to kill lice.

The problem, according to environmental researcher Don Staniford, is that the chemicals that are now replacing dichlorvos may be even worse. Azamethiphos, for instance, is said to be ten times more toxic than dichlorvos, and is already under investigation as a possible carcinogen.

Ed.- In the past Amvac paid British students to eat the chemical in order to test its effects on health!