While working around his yard last month, a neighbor of a friend was seen in shorts and bare feet, spritzing weed killer from a pump spray bottle. He explained his rationale that when he was finished, he could more effectively remove pesticide that drifted onto his skin by showering than he would be able to clean it off his shoes or clothing.
The fault in this thinking can be explained with basic etymology: The word pesticide is derived from the English word "pest," which typically is defined as an annoyance, and "cide," taken from the Latin word occidere, which means to kill. And that shouldn't be taken lightly.
Any product meant to kill (weeds or insects) surely cannot be considered entirely safe; reason dictates that, at the very least, certain precautions should be followed. What my friend's neighbor failed to appreciate is that skin _ the largest organ in the human body _ is porous, effectively absorbing between 29 and 91% (averaging 64 percent) of solvents and volatile organic compounds to which it's exposed, according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health.
