rick wrote:
> "RobDar" > wrote in message
> ...
> >a very interesting stance...I cannot say that I am well enough
> >educated on the topic to comment intelligently...but believe me,
> >I am going to look into this!
>
>
> Here's a few sites to start your research..

That's a pretty impressive list! How did you come up with all of them?

I picked one more or less at random,
http://www.panna.org/resources/docum...Cotton.dv.html,
and saw some staggering numbers:

Fish killed by pesticide run-off: In 1995, pesticide-contaminated
runoff from cotton fields killed at least 240,000 fish in Alabama.
Shortly after farmers had applied pesticides containing endosulfan and
methyl parathion to cotton fields, heavy rains washed them into the
water. The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries stated that
there was no indication that the pesticides were applied in an illegal
manner.

Livestock: Meat and milk contaminated by pesticide-laden cotton straw.
In 1994, Australian beef was found to be contaminated with the cotton
insecticide Helix® (chlorfluazuron), most likely because cattle had
been fed contaminated cotton straw. In response, several countries
suspended beef imports from Australia. One year later, farmers were
alarmed to discover that newborn calves were also contaminated with
Helix, apparently because it was passed through their mother's milk. In
a similar case, 23 farms in New South Wales and Queensland were placed
in quarantine after inspectors discovered high levels of endosulfan in
beef cattle, possibly due to endosulfan spray drift contaminating
grazing land. Since 1987, Australian beef exporters have lost millions
of dollars due to concerns about chemical contamination.

Birds: It has been estimated that pesticides unintentionally kill at
least 67 million birds in the U.S. each year, and it's likely they
kill many more. Estimates of bird kills from pesticides are notoriously
low because many birds remain hidden in brush, are carried away by
scavengers or die away from treated areas where they won't be
counted. In one case, a breeding colony of laughing gulls near Corpus
Christi, Texas, was devastated when methyl parathion was applied to
cotton three miles away. More than 100 dead adults were found and 25%
of the colony's chicks were killed.