As an Oakland City Councilmember, I drafted and passed the original legislation in 1997 to ban the City’s use of unsafe toxics, one of the strongest municipal anti-pesticide ordinances in California.
As the father of two young children, I feel strongly about this issue. Since 1997, further studies have shown that exposure to glyphosate herbicides — Monsanto’s Roundup, which City Hall is currently considering reusing, a common brand -- has been linked to genetic damage to laboratory animals and increased risks of cancer, miscarriages, and attention deficit disorder in children.
We all want our children, pets and family members to be in an environment that is healthy, safe and free from toxins. Herbicides like Roundup are carcinogens. In the last five years, three studies have linked exposure to them and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer. Additionally, a 2001 study associated using glyphosate herbicides in the three months prior to pregnancy with an increased risk of late miscarriages. These toxins can also stay in our environment for years, infecting our urban streams and causing genetic damage to wildlife.
Read these articles about Oakland's anti-toxics law:
San Francisco Chronicle, 4/5/5
San Francisco Chronicle, 4/6/5
The Tribune produced an excellent series of articles on toxics that we encounter in our lives every day. Read it here.
