One of my cherished girlfriends, a consultant, has been working on a project involving pesticides. Ever the optimist, she insists that they are perfectly safe. Dave Pollard from How to Save the World has other ideas in a recent blog post. He tells of how little we know about the chemicals in use in everyday products our children use, and  quotes Paul Goettlich:

The child sleeps in a bed made of plastic, covered with synthetic sheets that are treated with fire-retardant, and washed in harsh detergents containing toxic synthetic chemicals. Sheets are dried at high temperature creating dioxin from the chlorine bleach residue. The mattress cover's flexibility is from plasticizers and it's treated with an antibacterial agent. The room's new synthetic carpeting and freshly painted walls offgass toxins. Snugly fitting disposable diapers contain toxic ingredients such as sodium polyacrylates, and ethylvinylacetate-based glues, resins, softening agents and antioxidants. ...

It goes on, enough to worry even the parent who works for Monsanto. Dave's advice:

Learn the facts about chemicals — how they're used and how they're dangerous: If you know, for example, that Bisphenol A (BPA) is a dangerous chemical found in many plastics, including baby bottles, you can take appropriate action. Stay abreast of what we're starting to learn every day about chemical dangers by subscribing to aggregators like Environmental Health News. If you have to use chemical pesticides, study the dangers first before you choose.