Insecticides and fungicides may be dangerous in different ways. That does not necessarly mean that one is less toxic than the other (in the long run). Some pesticide problems may not show up for many years and in a way unexpected such that that "route" was never tested for. The following recent research scientific paper is just one example of "the unexected/not tested". Title: Combined exposure to endocrine disrupting pesticides impairs parturition, causes pup mortality and affects sexual differentiation in rats Authors: P. R. Jacobsen, S. Christiansen, J. Boberg, C. Nellemann and U. Hass Authors affiliation: Department of Toxicology and Risk Assessment, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark Published in: International Journal of Andrology, volume 33, pages 434��"442, (2010). ABSTRACT: "Risk assessment is currently based on the no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) for single compounds. Humans are exposed to a mixture of chemicals and recent studies in our laboratory have shown that combined exposure to endocrine disrupters can cause adverse effects on male sexual development, even though the doses of the single compounds are below their individual NOAELs for anti-androgenic effects. Consequently, we have initiated a large project where the purpose is to study mixture effects of endocrine disrupting pesticides at low doses. In the initial range-finding mixture studies, rats were gavaged during gestation and lactation with five doses of a mixture of the fungicides procymidone, mancozeb, epoxyconazole, tebuconazole and prochloraz. The mixture ratio was chosen according to the doses of each individual pesticide that produced no observable effects on pregnancy length and pup survival in our laboratory and the dose levels used ranged from 25 to 100% of this mixture. All dose levels caused increased gestation length and dose levels above 25% caused impaired parturition leading to markedly decreased number of live born offspring and high pup perinatal mortality. The sexual differentiation of the pups was affected at 25% and higher as anogenital distance was affected in both male and female offspring at birth and the male offspring exhibited malformations of the genital tubercle, increased nipple retention, and decreased prostate and epididymis weights at pup day 13. The results show that doses of endocrine disrupting pesticides, which appear to induce no effects on gestation length, parturition and pup mortality when judged on their own, induced marked adverse effects on these endpoints in concert with other pesticides. In addition, the sexual differentiation of the offspring was affected. This as well as the predictability of the combination effects based on dose-additivity modelling will be studied further in a large dose-response study." -------------------------------------------- The first part of the INTRODUCTION SECTION of the full paper may be of interest: "Animal laboratory experiments have shown that in utero exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) including some pesticides can cause adverse effects on male reproductive development (Foster, 2006; Gray et al., 2006; Hass et al., 2007; Metzdorff et al., 2007; Christiansen et al., 2008). Individual pesticides alone have so far not been shown to contribute to adverse human effects at relevant exposure levels. However, some studies indicate increased prevalence of cryptorchidism and decreased penile length in sons of women working as gardeners or Many EDCs have been found as mixtures in humans (Blount et al., 2000; Swan et al., 2005), including children (Brock et al., 2002; Swan et al., 2005; Main et al., 2006). Damgaard et al. (2006) observed an association between congenital cryptorchidism and the levels of certain organochlorine pesticides in mothers’ milk (Damgaard et al., 2006). Earlier, Pierik et al. (2004) identified paternal exposures to pesticides and smoking as factors associated with these congenital malformations. These initial observations in epidemiological studies points in the same direction as laboratory experiments with oestrogenic or anti-androgenic chemicals in which substantial mixture effects occurred even though each individual chemical was present at low, ineffective doses (Rajapakse et al., 2002; Silva et al., 2002; Hass et al., 2007; Metzdorff et al., 2007; Christiansen et al., 2008, 2009). Some pesticides such as vinclozolin and procymidone antagonize competitively the androgen receptor (AR) binding of androgens and affect mainly the reproductive development in male offspring (Kelce et al., 1997; Ostby et al., 1999). Other pesticides such as mancozeb and propineb act mainly via disruption of the thyroid hormones and are mainly suspected to disrupt brain development (Hurley, 1998; Hass & Axelstad, Personal Communication). Our detailed research on prochloraz, combined with studies on other azole fungicides such as tebuconazole and epoxyconazole, indicates that these pesticides have the ability to react through several endocrine disrupting mechanisms, and to induce various endocrine disrupting effects (Vinggaard et al., 2005a,b; Taxvig et al., 2007). We have shown that prochloraz induced anti-androgenic effects in rats in vivo in a Hershberger test as well as in a developmental toxicity study (Vinggaard et al., 2002, 2005a). In addition, our studies show that prochloraz increases gestation length and indicate that prochloraz may also affect thyroid hormone levels and cause effects on the sexually dimorphic development of the brain (Vinggaard et al., 2002, 2005a). Both tebuconazole and epoxyconazole increase gestation length and pup mortality and furthermore, these pesticides virilise female pups, and affect steroid hormone levels in foetuses and ⁄ or dams (Taxvig et al., 2007)."

I wear old jeans and t-shirts unsuitable for anything else. I rarely wear shorts as I cannot stand dirt at the back of my knees. Also always a baseball cap. I try to remember the sunscreen too but sometimes forget. I usually carry a bandana around to wipe my eyes if I get sweaty(which I do ). I wear last years hiking boots on my feet and always with socks. My pruners are clipped to my jeans in a holster, my pocket knife in my pocket and a pencil behind my ear. I try not to lose my gloves but it happens often. In fact I lost my right glove in the front yard and my left in the backyard on Sunnday! My mom came home from dinner and found them. I don't need sunglasses, my bifocals have transition lenses. I also use a kneeling pad for my bad knees. I tried the ones you wear but found the straps to be uncomfortable at the backs of my knees. When I worked landscaping for a living 20 years ago I had several sunscreen shirts. They were pricey but very nice. I have since not only aged but also expanded and they went to the goodwill years ago. My neighbors all think I'm a little off anyway when I'm talking to my flowers or out at the crack of dawn pollinating. So it dosen't really matter how I dress.LOL! Kim

It was fun reading all of this, especially since it goes back to '06. That first post of Lars with the cherry cream soda...yummmy. I only consume coffee if it's ice cream, Kahlua or some other dessert. I like tea, black, green, but not any spiced teas. Really dislike mint too. Mostly I drink flavored unsweetened seltzer, iced tea or lemonade. Occasionally I'll have a fruit soda, but I find them too sweet these days so I mix them with my seltzer. Alcohol? Not really. Don't like wine as a rule. I can deal with a little champagne or Asti. Will drink vodka, that Kahlua making it a Black Russian. Smiles. I can go several years or more without having any alcohol. Last year I turned my current [at the time] vodka into vanilla. This fall an old friend from high school came to visit and brought a bottle of vodka. I had 2 light Cape Cods and when he left I turned the Svedka into vanilla. LOL. In winter in the evening we either have hot tea or hot cocoa often. I do love hot chocolate made with cocoa or even a nice chocolate bar.

As I matter of fact I do wear jewelry differently at my 2 homes! I can't stand cold metal touching me so I don't wear necklaces in the winter (from Nov to about March) at my regular home. And I wear one particular pair of earring almost all winter because they dangle but not long enough to touch my skin. Some of the longer ones end up touching my neck from my scarves & bulky coat so I avoid those. It's crazy but cold metal just sends a chill right through me and makes me feel colder. Since it's warmer in HHI, I do wear necklaces & earrings and even bracelets. I usually bring a few down with me so that I can have some variety. One necklace at a time, if it's bold than the earrings are smaller. One bracelet at a time and it depends on my sleeve length. In both places, I occasionally wear rings when I remember them. Your comments about gold & blue reminds me that I have an 18k gold ring with a lapis lazuli stone. I should dig that out and start wearing it again.