David R.,
 
First, thanks everyone for the discussions which followed my inquiry
concerning golf course, pesticides and pd.
 
I think that if exploring the link between rural living, farming, and/or well
water consumption and subsequent exposure to pesticides is worthy of
research, then it is not illogical to ponder the relationship between the use
of pesticides on golf courses and pd.  The risk is probably higher for those
either working or living near the course, who would receive daily exposure,
rather than those who come to play occassionally.  Even if they golfed once a
day, the levels they received would be less than those for a person under 24
hour exposure.  Children are particularly at risk for health problems due  to
chemical exposure due to their stil developing bodies, and children do get PD
also.   It is possible that some of the neighbors whose homes border the
course may have a family member with pd, or perhaps some other disease, such
as cancer, also linked to pesticide use.  Perhaps, as others have mentioned
recently in unrelated topics, there are more than 2 of you there with pd, but
they have not admitted publicly to it for whatever reason.  (as in Alan B's
story of the group of busisnessmen, all with 'closet' PD).  I believe the
only 'risk' in pursuing this line of inquiry, i.e., golf courses and
pesticides, etc., is to the owners of the courses, who might fear financial
obligations should a link ever be found.  That, or else they must take the
incentive, and perhaps also incur some cost, to convert to some form of
integrated pest management (IPM), which does not require the use of
pestticides.
 
Pesticides are developed specifically to attack the insect's nervous system,
that's how they work.  I personally have nothing against golf courses, I am
 equally concerned about pesticide use (alot of it) in all of the previous
apartment/condo communities where I have lived.  Their use is excessive and
pervasive.  I intend to send the following poem which I wrote nearly six
months ago, which some new members may not have seen  yet, to my condo
association.  We are all stewards of the land and are responsible for being
aware and informed of all potential risks to the environment and our health,
even if they should prove not to exist in the end.
****************************
 
SUNNY YELLOW FLAGS
 
Sunny yellow flag, waving happily in the breeze, Proclaims:
"Beware - Pesticide Treated Area."
 
Walking my dog alongside perhaps dozens of these innocuous messengers,
I wonder about the unspoken irony,
WHO are the pests?
 
Is it the insects?
No, that is too simple.
 
Could it be - Dogs with their noses close to the ground?
Or perhaps all of the children, playing and running around?
Both make noise and often annoy those of the 'mature' human variety.
 
There are those communities, I've encountered,
who seem to protect their children (or rather the pristine Lawn God),
by making it forbidden to play on the communal lawn.
 
I guess one must weigh the odds,
sunny yellow flags
or
automobiles?
 
Am I a pest?
"It could be so,"
respond the flag messengers as I walk by.
 
"But I am HUMAN, and we kill pests,
Not in reverse."
 
"Depends on your point of view," one replies.
 
Again and again, "Who is the pest?"
Echoes 'round in my mind
As I pass one flag after another.
 
Suddenly I freeze, as
The TRUTH called out to me...
 
I am the pest and also the source of my disease!
 
I am aging before my years,
With shaking and rigidity I shouldn't acquire
For many decades.
 
"Don't worry, it's not personal,"
Consoles the nearest flag,
Hating to see any sadness.
 
"I'm just doing the job I was developed to do:
Rid the earth of pests,
And frankly, what are humans,
If not pests?"
 
"They take and take and never give back.
Just like larvae, which ultimately kills its host.
Only since there is no where else to go,
The host cannot die, or with it goes all life."
 
So the obvious solution is the hardest to accept,
"Survival of the fittest" - Isn't that the Law?
 
I used to be fit,
Until you and your army of yellow
Appeared regularly in my world.
 
If you want an Answer,
Just ask the cockroach,
He holds the secret of survival.
 
* Wendy Tebay