A Socialist View from Outside the Box

As a kid I always had an interest in Gardening. My Dad tells me I had my first veggie patch when I was 2 yeas old. I would always be out in the Garden while my older sister was playing with other kids in our neighbourhood.

It seemed a natural progression that I would move into a Garden type of profession when I left school. I studied Horticulture for 12 months before starting my own Gardening Business.

Though I had never used it before, I was recommended a couple of chemicals that would knock out weeds and get rid of flat weed in lawns super fast. Apart from learning about them during my Horticulture course, it was then I was formally introduced to Glyphosate (Roundup) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA).

These chemicals became my new best friends. I could quickly get out to a job, Mow the lawn and spray the weeds and get on to the next job. It was very financially convenient for me and the customer. I was going great for a good few years but due to family reasons we sold up at our North West Tasmanian home and moved to Brisbane.

As luck, fate or a combination of Both would have it, within days of moving to Brisbane I met Narelle, Who I married 4 months later. By this time I had stopped using the chemicals I was using in my garden business for about 4 or 5 months. Narelle and I were married in the January and our daughter Bethany was born in the same year.

As Bethany grew she was NOT reaching Milestones most Babies and Toddlers do. She couldn’t sit up on her own, she didn’t make an attempt to walk or talk other than baby goo’s.

We kept going to Paediatricians in Brisbane each saying she is a little delayed and may need therapy as she gets older. As parents we knew it was more serous than that and after much debate decided to move to Melbourne to see new therapists.

The second Paediatrician we saw in Melbourne clinically diagnosed Bethany with Angelman Syndrome and after several tests confirmed she did have this rare syndrome.

Angelman Syndrome is caused by a deletion of part of the 15th chromosome which affects speech, movement, balance and cognitive abilities. Epilepsy is also common and Bethany had her first seizure when she was nearly 4.

In the time between Bethany’s Birth and her diagnosis William (Billy) was born. Billy was reaching Milestones at a normally expected time frame and passed Bethany by the time he was 18 months. Billy is your typical 8 year old who today enjoys Soccer, Tennis, drawing and LOTS of talking.

At the time Billy was conceived I was away from the chemicals mentioned above for about 2 years.

After 6 years trying to have another baby I was diagnosed with what may be a Prolactinoma (Pituitary Tumour). My prolactin levels were off the chart. I was given a medication to reduce my prolactin levels which saw them come down to normal levels, however, by this time we realised it was too late to consider having more children.

When Bethany was first diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome our research found that Chemicals found in the environment can cause not only reproductive difficulties but also deletions and mutations in unborn children and animals.

Chemicals such as the ones I was using in my Gardening Business, even though they are considered “safer’’ than alternatives, have been shown to act as Endocrine Disruptors. Endocrine Disruptors cause problems with the Hormonal system.

With Angelman Syndrome The Maternal chromosome 15 is affected. This means that at conception something caused the deleted part of the chromosome from the mothers side not to form. To put it in simple terms… There is some logic to the thought that if the section of the chromosome that is missing found a raised level of a particular hormone it may have registered that this portion of the chromosome had already formed when in fact it hadn’t.

So, although the missing code is from the Mothers side, it would not be impossible to assume it was a hormonal problem with the father that caused it.

My research into this area is ongoing. I do not pretend to have all the answers. The logical assumption is that since Pesticides and Herbicides are designed to attack the Hormonal function of a plant. It is highly likely this can also occur in humans and animals, even at low rates of consumption.

Knowing this or more importantly, believing this, I can not bring myself to ‘’devalue weeds’’ more than I value the health of my family.

We have since eliminated many other chemicals from our personal environment. We also Represent MiEssence. A Company built on Organic and Chemical Free Principals.

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding the safety of Agricultural chemicals is they must be safe because they are freely available and there use is not illegal.

Unfortunately, the same applies to cigarettes. They are legal and generally freely available, no one argues the health problems associated with them. Yet, if one were to mention the health problems associated with Ag chemicals, especially to regular users of them, they would be ridiculed.

It would be impossible to eat a meal and consume food that was not subject to dozen or more synthetic chemicals through its growth cycle. With the increasing number of chemicals used I wonder if we will ever need a Doctors prescription just to eat a Salad for Dinner?

Buying Organic is a good choice, growing your own is even better. But consumers deserve to know what is sprayed on the food they consume and have a choice to buy and consume or look elsewhere. Product packaging or point of sale notices should reflect this information.