--- In EquineCushings@y..., Eclectk1@a... wrote:

As to the question I believe Kaye asked regarding environmental

effects and why its not more redily noted or "acknowledged" by
scientists/vets/doctors... its because there are few areas of the
nation where chemical levels are actually high enough in drinking
water to be tied to ANY actual or known effect in animals or people.
Just because trace levels of some chemicals are there does not
correspond to an effect on animals or people... one has to be VERY
careful to attribute cause to a traceable and provable effect (or vice
versa) -- its entirely too too easy to use coorelation totally
incorrectly (e.g., something is there, therefor its responsible for
causing the problem). This is especially true where one is looking
for answers that are NOT easy or simply answered, but desperately want
a "reason." This sort of problem can be seen all the time with so
called "miracle cures" for cancer or other lifethreatening diseases
that later turn out to be either useless or worse than u!

seless and actually harmful.

Graves disease, and hyperthroidism, are both well studied and well

known diseases -- and are almost certainly genetically based
predispositions, not due to environmental chemicals. They've both
been around since prehistory, in the dawn of civilization when there
were little if any chemicals that were not totally naturally occuring.
Its just very unlikly that these well known and existing problems
that have been around since way way before modern agriculture are now
caused by agricultural chemicals... or what was causing them back
before there was any chemical use?

Robin,
I commend you for your very scientific reasoning. I do
contract research on pesticide residues for most of the big chemical
companies, so I am very familiar with this line of thinking. It was
my own only a short time ago. Some clarifications:
My reference to Graves disease (HYPERthyroidism) was only to point
out the treatment to depress thyroid function was thiocarbamide drugs.
The residues of thiocarbamate herbicides are VERY prevelant in my
area. A recent study here by CSU showed 1/3 of test wells over the
drinking water standard for nitrates, and 1/3 had some kind of
herbicide present. Of course these tests were done on shallow
irrigation wells, not on house wells, but with our confined aquifer,
permeable soils, and shallow water table, I don't understand why no
one is looking at domestic wells, which tap the same water source.
Research projects are often insired by antecedal comments, rumors,
and the gut level feelings of the specialists out in the field. I am
getting truely inspired to look at the connection between the high
pesticide residues in my area and community health, particularly
HYPOthyroidism. My horses are on thyroid, when I went to the
drugstore to pick it up, a young girl was waiting for her thryoid.
When I when to ask the neighbor about her nitrate water test, I found
she was also on thyroid, and many of her aquaintences were on
thyroid.
Now the biggest problem in initiating research projects is getting
someone to pay for it. The Colorado Dept. of Health refuses to get
involved because the problem is found in private wells, and the only
deal with water sources that have more than 25 families on one source.
The Dept of Natural Resources only does research on agricultural
wells. The local environmental group is only interested in saving the
water quality in the river for endangered species of minnows. No one
seems to care about drinking water! The testing is very expensive.
No one wants to pay. If this important issue is being so purposely
ignored in other parts of the country like it is here, I am beginning
to think we are in some trouble. I plan to get my own water tested
for pesticide residues. At least in my line of work I can write if off
as a business expense. Then maybe I'll have some concrete evidence to
convince some govermental body to fund a project to look into this
further. I think there ARE areas where high pesticide residues are
found in drinking water. It it my personal experience that nobody
really wants to know about it, because then they'd have to figure out
what to do to fix it, and there aren't any inexpensive answers.
Better to pretend the problem doesn't exist.

Katy Watts, Rocky Mountain Research & Consulting
25 years experience in pesticide testing and agricultural consulting