Pesticides and Renditions

Sun, May 22, 2005

The Washington Post has a story about the House’s decision to ban the EPA from conducting tests that measure pesticide-levels in humans. Apparently, there was a program that would pay $1000 to 60 Florida families over two years to measure their children’s exposure to these chemicals. A Bruce Sterling novel tosses off that health-conscious humans of the near future no longer eat fruits and vegetables because the chemical defenses were linked to cancer. I’m not sure why I mention that, really, but it seemed like it was time.

It’s unclear to me whether the proposed study simply measured children in what I would presume to be agriculturally intensive areas to see what their natural exposure level was or if it reached into the cartoonish-level villainy of actually increasing their exposure somehow. A quote in the article seems to suggest this was the case, but even I find it hard to believe.

Also in the Post is a story about our favorite Gulfstream V and its wacky adventures. I wonder how many people offer to audit the “Efficient Scandinavian Suppository Anesthesics Methods” course at Langley.