Oz Isn’t the Only Doctor Who Doesn’t Get Pesticides

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I recently noted that the American Association of Pediatrics has issued a strong statement on the importance of minimizing kids’ exposure to pesticides. What about the doctors who look over at the stages when they’re most vulnerable, before they’ve even become kids—obstetricians and gynecologists? They evidently haven’t wised up on the issue. Here’s Scientific American:

A new nationwide survey of 2,600 obstetricians and gynecologists found that most do not warn their pregnant patients about chemicals in food, consumer products or the environment that could endanger their fetuses. More than half said they don’t warn about mercury, and hardly any of them give advice about lead, pesticides, air pollution or chemicals in plastics or cosmetics.

And here’s my prized colleague Kate Sheppard’s take on that study.

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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