Finally, it seems the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to ban the use of the most prevalent pesticides on crops most prevalently ingested by children. Fruits and vegetables are the mainstay of "Mom and apple pie." However, it has been clear to 1 in 9: the Long Island Breast Cancer Coalition, among others, that a pesticide found responsible for the 1984 deaths of two Mississippi children in close proximity to the organophosphate methyl parathion should have been removed from the kitchen table long ago.

EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner's statement that the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweighs the risk to youngsters from ingesting the neurotoxic, endocrine bending methyl parathion and azinphos methyl is self-serving; the EPA is behind in its mandated schedule to test and toss pesticides suspected of causing damage to children.

Childhood cancers in the New York region are up 20 percent in the last 20 years, according to top pediatric oncologists from Long Island and New Jersey. Special education professionals have noted a new category of neurologically damaged child presenting with symptoms not unlike autism. It's time to reduce our children's exposure to known health risks and genetic mutators. The clock is ticking - let's get on with it.

Geri Barish

1 in 9: The Long Island

Breast Cancer Action Coalition