Posted 3/15/01 A plea for cleaner air To the editor: I love our changing seasons, and always looked forward to the next one until our family was regularly exposed to pesticides. This exposure, along with other more minor toxic exposures, left us chemically sensitive. This means we react with multiple health problems to the fumes of many chemicals, including mosquito sprays and other insecticides, fertilizers, herbicides, cleaning compounds, air fresheners, and much more. Now the upcoming warmer season has become dangerous to us because the fumes from fertilizers and herbicides used on lawns and golf courses and pesticides sprayed for mosquito control produce health problems within our family. Many of us develop an almost instant headache among other health problems. So, now, instead of looking forward to warmer days, I fight feeling a dread of the toxic fumes coming our way very soon. Please know that these fumes are toxic to everyone, not just those who have already been hurt. Our family was healthy before we regularly exposed ourselves to pesticides. I encourage everyone to use organic fertilizers and alternative, non-toxic weed and bug control. I have discovered through experience that we can never totally eliminate bugs or weeds. All we can do is control them. We can control them with toxic chemicals or with non-toxic alternatives; neither one eliminates them. Therefore, please use non-toxic approaches to lawn care and bug control so everyone can enjoy fresh, clean air every day, free from toxic fumes. We will all breathe a lot healthier, and live a lot longer. Mary Anderson St. Paul ©Post Review