*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS*
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Dear [State Legislator],
Please do something to protect children from carcinogenic pesticides.
You may have heard that, in France, children who live near vineyards are at the highest risk of leukemia. The same is true in the United States, demonstrated by data from both Western and Midwestern agricultural regions, but it’s not just vineyards. All over the country, carcinogenic pesticides are being used to grow all varieties of crops.
I’d like to call your attention to studies demonstrating that kids are much more likely to get cancer if they live in agricultural regions and are exposed to specific pesticides:
The 2025 study “Prenatal Pesticide Exposure and Neuroblastoma” identified the pesticides associated with this cancer of the nerve cells that is seldom diagnosed after the age of five and accounts for about 15% of U.S. child cancer deaths each year. Prenatal exposure to flonicamid, cypermethrin, permethrin and benomyl was associated with a 33%, 53%, 24% and 20% increased risk, respectively.
A 2025 study of pediatric cancers in Nebraska, “Exploring the Joint Association Between Agrichemical Mixtures and Pediatric Cancer,” found a significant association between 32 agrichemicals and the occurrence of leukemia, as well as brain and central nervous system cancers, in children. Dicamba, glyphosate, paraquat, quizalofop, triasulfuron, and tefluthrin had the strongest association.
The 2022 study “Prenatal Ambient Pesticide Exposure and Childhood Retinoblastoma” found prenatal exposure to pymetrozine, kresoxim-methyl, acephate, and bromacil was associated with a 145%, 160%, 170%, and 187% increased risk, respectively, for childhood eye cancer,
The 2021 study “Residential proximity to pesticide application as a risk factor for childhood central nervous system tumors” found specific pesticides associated with:
diffuse astrocytoma, a brain tumor that infiltrates surrounding tissue, causing headaches, seizures, or neurological deficits;
medulloblastoma, a fast-growing, malignant brain tumor that causes balance issues, nausea, and vision problems; and
ependymoma, a rare tumor that disrupts cerebrospinal fluid flow.
For diffuse astrocytoma, the pesticides were thiophanate-methyl, kresoxim methyl, bromacil, and triforine, associated with a 164%, 209%, 212%, and 238% increased risk, respectively.
For medulloblastoma, it was propiconazole and dimethoate, chlorothalonil, and linuron, with an increased risk of 160%, 178%, and 252%, respectively.
For ependymoma, exposure to thiophanate-methyl was associated with a 172% increase.
The 2021 study “Prenatal Pesticide Exposure and Childhood Leukemia,” found acute lymphoblastic leukemia was associated with kresoxim-methyl, phosmet, diuron, and propanil, elevating the risk 177%, 210%, 238%, and 258%, respectively. Acute myeloid leukemia was associated with metam-sodium and paraquat-dichloride, elevating the risk 256% and 338%, respectively.
The 2009 study “Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia” found that exposure to metam-sodium was linked to a two-fold increase in the odds of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
These pesticides should be banned and farmers should be given the support they need to transition to organic agriculture. Farmers who grow corn for ethanol and factory farms should raise grassfed beef instead. This would be possible if investments were made in local processing.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
[Your Name]