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Bullfrog Films
P.O. Box 149
Oley, PA 19547
Tel: 610/779-8226
Fax: 610/370-1978
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Playing with Poison
American anthropologist investigates the side-effects on children of pesticide use.
46 minutes
DVD-R version available
Color
Closed Captioned
Grade Level: 9-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2002
Copyright Date: 2001
ISBN (VHS): 1-56029-922-3
ISBN (DVD): 1-59458-437-0
Directed by John Ritchie
Produced by John Ritchie & Rob Bromley
Produced by
Force Four Entertainment Inc.
In association with
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and
Discovery Health Channel for CBC's "The Nature of Things"
Executive Producer: Michael Allder
Presented by David Suzuki
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"Timely and chilling..." Peggy Curran, Montreal Gazette
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The Yaqui Valley is one of Mexico's largest agricultural areas, providing much of North America's fresh fruit and vegetables. It is also home to neighboring towns in which children exhibit significant and disturbing neurological differences. Playing with Poison investigates this phenomenon and its relevance to children across North America.
U.S. anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette learned in 1993 about problems in the Yaqui Valley. As she has written in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the valley children are far behind those of the foothills in physical coordination, energy and learning capabilities. The only difference she observed was that pesticides have been used in the valley since the early 1950s, while in the foothills there is no agricultural industry and virtually no pesticide use.
Playing with Poison follows Dr. Guillette as she meets with eminent laboratory scientists in her search for corroboration and possible solutions. Neurotoxicologist David Carpenter of the University of Albany says, "I have suspected for a long time that pesticides cause these effects, but no one has demonstrated it so convincingly."
The DVD version of this program is recorded on DVD-R which is not compatible with some older DVD players. See the new DVD page for more details.
Awards:
The Chris Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival
Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Television Awards
Second Place in Category, EarthVision Environmental Film Festival
Vermont International Film Festival
Olympia Environmental Film Festival
Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
Reviews:
"A careful, systematic study of the tragic human toll that results from lacing industrially produced foods with anti-pest poisons." Timothy McGettigan, professor of sociology, University of Southern Colorado
"Timely and chilling...explores potentially dangerous side-effects of weed- and bug-killers for children, whether the source is massive aerial spraying on farm crops, your neighbor's weed-killer or household bug-repellent...spotlights ground-breaking work by Elizabeth Guillette, an American anthropologist, nurse, mother, and grandmother." Peggy Curran, The Montreal Gazette
"Subtly dramatic and scary...The program has a cogent, thorough account of the unreported dangers of pesticides and their effect on children. Naturally, it's better than any movie." John Doyle, The Globe and Mail
"As frightening as it is sad..." Bob Blakely, The Calgary Herald
Related Subjects:
Agriculture
Anthropology
Disabilities
Ecology
Environment
Environmental Ethics
Food And Nutrition
Mexico
Pollution
Sociology
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Pointless Pollution: We all contribute to nonpoint source pollution of our water!
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