In 1964 Bob Dylan released his legendary song ”The Times They Are a-Changin”, as the title
track to his album of the same name. Mr. Dylan has stated that he wrote this song hoping to
bring about societal change, for issues such as civil rights, ending the Vietnam War,
environmentalism, personal choice freedoms, “et al”. Many individuals did indeed view Mr.
Dylan’s song as a hymn of hope for the future. Some of these people took to activism, to try to
facilitate change, for those causes with deep meaning to them. The song was even used, by
others, to suggest the beginnings of significant change, in other areas. Steve Jobs opened the
Apple 1984 shareholders meeting by reciting the second verse of the song and then introduced
the Macintosh computer, for the first time. I doubt Mr. Dylan specifically had eliminating the
use of toxic pesticides, in mind, when he wrote his celebrated song, but certainly the
burgeoning environmental movement, of that era, was no doubt in his thoughts, at the time.
Rachel Carson took on the chemical industry and published “The Silent Spring” in 1962, just
two years prior to Mr. Dylan’s song, condemning the indiscriminate and widespread use of the
hazardous pesticide DDT and detailed its many harmful effects. Ms. Carson’s epic work was one
of the vital first steps, that eventually led to the establishment, in 1970, of the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) and soon to follow, their 1972 ban on the use of DDT
nationwide. Not to be deterred, the chemical industry just began to manufacture other
equally hazardous chemicals and simply called them different names; Carbamates,
Organochlorine, Organophosphate and Pyrethroids (hazardous neurotoxins all), but with my
apologies to Shakespeare “A poison by any other name is still a poison”! More than fifty years
have now gone by, since the EPA banned DDT, and little to nothing has been done, by the
chemical industry, to find safer and healthier solutions to the insect problems in our homes
and businesses. The use of toxic pesticides for in-home insect infestations and agricultural
applications is still widespread and sadly people continue to become ill with cancers,
respiratory diseases, babies are born with autism and other developmental issues, our pets are
likewise harmed, and the environment suffers, to the extent, in many cases, where it just
cannot be fixed.
The pesticide industry, in the pursuit of their profits, continues to not just double-down on the
problem, but over recent years have actually made it 10 times worse. That sounds ridiculous,
but the only ridiculous part is it’s true! How can that even be possible? Science has proven that
insects can develop immunity to insecticides though a process called “insecticide resistance”
When insecticides are used repeatedly, the insects that survive are the ones with the genes that
make them more resistant. These insects then pass on their resistance to their offspring. The
Wall Street Journal, in an article, dated 1/20/2011 detailed this “insecticide resistance”, based
on studies conducted at Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts.* This
means that the common household insecticides, with their neurotoxin based pyrethrin formula,
will no longer be effective with the existing percentage of pyrethrin being used. So, what does
the pesticide industry do? No problem there, they just increased the amount of pyrethrin in the
formula, by tenfold, so their formula continues to kill with the same effectiveness as previously
demonstrated. You, your family, your pets and our environment have become the collateral
damage of that action.
Many scientists now say, based on their research, that 90%-95% of all cancers are
environmentally caused and only a small percentage of cancers are genetically based. There are
many studies and research abstracts on this subject This of course means that the chemicals
we are spraying in our homes, on our crops, or that enter our water supply are precisely those
“environmental causes” that scientists cite. It is not only cancers and respiratory problems that
need concern us. In June of 2014 a joint study** conducted by UC Davis and the UCLA School
of Medicine analyzed the health records of one-thousand women who had given birth and who
all lived within one mile of agricultural fields, in the Central Valley of California, that were
routinely sprayed with toxic pesticides. The study found that the babies of these one-thousand
women were 60% more likely to have autism or other developmental problems. This was
compared to women who did not live in proximity to agricultural fields sprayed with toxic
pesticides. It almost seems impossible to believe; the research did not indicate five or ten
percent more likely, but 60%. It is now ten years from the date that the study was published
and yet the spraying of toxic pesticides continues. 40 years ago, only 1 child in 3,000 was
diagnosed with autism, but today 1 child in 54 is diagnosed as autistic.
The toxins we inhale, ingest or find their way inside of us, through the skin, are metabolized to
our liver. The liver then is supposed to act as a cleansing organ to safely process these toxins.
The neurotoxins in pesticides overwhelm the ability of our liver to properly cleanse them.
Especially when you stop and consider the chemical companies have made them 10X stronger,
so that they can continue to be effective. Imagine a small child’s or a baby’s liver, with its
reduced size; their livers have little to no chance at all, against these neurotoxins. A recent
July31, 2024 study published in Lancet Public Health found that Gen X and millennials face a
higher risk of 17 types of cancers compared to older generations.***Cancers such as colorectal,
endometrial, ovarian, liver anal, and others were on the increase in these age groups. Several of
these cancers had been on the decline for decades, but have begun to rise again. This study
reviewed the data of 34 types of cancer, nearly 24 million diagnoses and more than 7 million
deaths. Other studies show a significant rise nationally in liver cancer.
All these studies and all these very real health concerns that have affected many of us in our
everyday lives might lead one to think that something would be done to begtely, sometimes
our nation’s health becomes secondary to the health of corporate profits and the opposite
occurs. ProPublica published a story o22, 2024, that managers at the EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency), under the previous Trump administration, pressured scientists to certify
that new chemicals being used were safer than they really were.**** The EPA Inspector
General investigated this matter and found that three agency scientists were retaliated against
for refusing to go along with this deception. The problem regarding the continued use of toxic
pesticides and their devastating impact on our health and to our environment will need to be
handled in the private sector, as for now the Federal government offers little hope .Fortunately,
there is hope on the horizon.
History is replete with the names of those who were able to become “game-changers” in
science, literature, the arts, technology, civil rights and many other areas. We at Dr Greengood
believe that we too are also about to become a “game-changer”. Dr Greengood is now very
pleased and proud to borrow from Mr. Dylans’s anthem of change and shout yes “The Times
They Are a Changin” and we have helped to bring about that change with our contribution to
the eventual elimination of toxic pesticides. Our Dr Greengood line of non-toxic and organic
insect killers is available right now and will kill on contact. Our formula is 100% non-toxic to
humans, pets and the environment and will kill bedbugs, cockroaches, spotted lanternflies,
fleas, ticks and host of other insects. Our products have all been certified by an independent
testing laboratory to be safe and effective. There is no longer any need to use harmful cancer-
causing toxic pesticides to deal with these insect problems. We at Dr Greengood have now
changed the poisonous pesticide culture to make you, your family, your pets and the
environment safer and healthier.
The very long journey to change the toxic pesticide culture is the Dr Greengood mission, we
have now begun to build a very real and solid foundation. Very soon two major pesticide
companies, one offering in-home service and the other insect killing products, who here-to-
fore, had only utilized toxic pesticides, will be announcing their complete transition from their
former use of toxic pesticides to the 100% safe Dr Greengood formula. We will let them make
their own announcements regarding their identities, but this is happening soon. Our journey
will not be over, or our mission fulfilled, until every chemical company manufacturing a toxic
pesticide, every company selling a toxic pesticide at retail, every company spraying toxic
pesticides in people’s homes or every company treating agricultural fields with a toxic pesticide
are only offering completely safe insecticide products.
We at Dr Greengood are proud to follow in the footsteps of many other “game-changers” and
thank Mr. Dylan sixty years later for putting into words what is the best theme song we could
ever hope for: “The Times They Are a-Changin”!
All Dr Greengood products are available at www.drgreengood.com.
*Wall Street Journal1/20/2011: Why Bedbugs Won’t Die, By Robert Lee Hotz
**UCLA,UC Davis Study 6/2014 ,Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Prenatal
Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticides: The CHARGE Study, Janie F.
Shelton, Estella M. Geraghty, Daniel J. Tancredi, Lora D. Delwiche, Rebecca J.
Schmidt, Beate Ritz, Robin L. Hansen, and Irva Hertz-Picciotto
***Gen X, Millennials Face Higher Risk of 17 Cancers than Older Generations,
Lancet Public Health, &/31/2024, By Kaitlin Sullivan
**** EPA Scientists Say They Were Pressured to Downplay Health Harms FromChemicals
by Sharon Lerner, ProPublicaSeptember 22, 2024