Ignorance and Corporate Greed

A load of poisonous gas was dropped into our neighborhood last week. Nobody complained, everyone went about their business as if nothing was happening, a cat went missing, and the earth’s ozone layer took another hit. Just another day in paradise.

The gas-drop arrived in a perfectly legal, professional-looking package: a white truck belonging to a pest extermination company accompanied by two men in uniform. The mission: rid recently purchased home of termites. The outcome: termites and their eggs dead, ground soil poisoned and no longer suitable for organic gardening, one dead cat. Trees, bushes, birds, butterflies, and helpful insects of all kinds were undefendable, plus any person within the vicinity of the home was exposed. But exposed to what?

The gas is sulfuryl fluoride, otherwise known as Vikane. Introduced in 1957 as a neurotoxin guaranteed to leave anything dead, it has been touted as the only viable solution to saving one’s home from termite destruction. Around the mid-1950’s there were other chemicals introduced to Americans, too. They were designed to make life more convenient, and chemical companies richer. This all coincided with a major blight of our day – the rise in cancer rates, and of particular concern because of its correlation, breast cancer. 
 
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