Garden Organic Pesticide + Gloves = Safest Way to Care for Your Plants
February 4th, 2010 Posted in Green Living & News
For many gardeners, nothing is quite as satisfying as washing dirt off of your hands after a long day of working in the garden. You have a few cuts and scrapes on your hands but nothing a little soap and water cannot clean; gloves just get in the way of your work. Besides, you use organic pesticides in your garden, so what do you have to worry about touching your skin?
While using only a garden organic pesticide is the safest way to protect your plants and yourself, there are still dangers that could be lurking in your soil.
Not wearing gloves while gardening? Here are the risks involved:
- Tetanus can infect cuts in the skin
- Pollutants in rain water can enter into your bloodstream
- Chemical pesticides can irritate skin
Tetanus can infect cuts in the skin
Tetanus is commonly associated with rusty nails or gardening tools. But even if your tools don’t have a speck of rust on them, tetanus can live in your soil.
If you get a scratch while tending to your rose bushes, this creates an opening for bacteria to infect you.
Did you know?
- 84% of Americans garden or do yard work every year
- 31% of tetanus cases between 1998 and 2000 came from bacteria in the garden, yard, or while working on a farm
- Older people are at a greater risk of contracting tetanus than children
So if this is the first you’re hearing of tetanus existing in the soil, you’re not alone. In a survey conducted by the National Gardening Association and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, 57% of people didn’t know tetanus can live in soil.
Fortunately, there are 2 easy ways to make sure you do not contract tetanus while gardening:
- Get a tetanus booster shot every 10 years
- Wear gloves and protective clothes when working in the garden
Many people don’t realize that even if garden organic pesticides are used, tetanus can still remain in the soil. Use organic pesticides and wear gloves, then neither you or your plants will have to worry.
Pollutants in rain water can enter into your bloodstream
Environmentalists have feared holes in the ozone layer and acid rain for years. But even if you avoid aerosol hairspray and you do not catch raindrops on your tongue, acid rain can still affect your health.
If polluted rain water falls in your garden, contaminants can sit in the soil and enter your body through cuts.
What causes acid rain?
Acidic air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, react with water and oxygen in the air to give rain water acidic qualities.
When this rain falls into your garden, it reacts to free toxic metals which are present in the ground. With these pollutants flowing into the soil, all the dangers that you avoid by using a garden organic pesticide can harm you still. That is why it’s important to still always wear gloves when working in the garden.
Chemical pesticides can irritate skin
So far, I have assumed that you are always using organic pesticides in your garden. But what if you decide to live on the edge and not wear gloves or use garden organic pesticides?
Non-organic pesticides can irritate the skin and enter into your bloodstream if an open wound comes in contact with these dangerous chemicals. You would never drink these toxins, so you should not let them into your body any other way. If you have used these chemicals on your plants, always wear gloves to protect yourself.
Organic home and garden pest control is a great way to protect yourself, but so is taking extra precautions in the garden. Avoid minor scrapes and major infections with just a pair of gloves and a bottle of organic pesticide.
