Hi all, I’m a very anxious public health professional who just got a home in the South East United States, 20 minutes outside of a city. I’m nervous about potential exposure to pesticides from the neighboring “hobby farms,” which are all owned by individuals (no companies). A handful are indeed zoned for agriculture unless otherwise specified on my map. They appear to grow hay, soybean, or just be legacy land (a few larger plots are owned by developers, as noted). The only animals are horses (no chickens, hogs, cows, etc.)
The neighborhood is wooded and we have 1000+ feet along with three rows of houses between ourselves and the nearest ~15-40 acre plots of land.
Am i going to be ok? Is the pesticide or fertilizer exposure risk too high here?
Everyone keeps telling me, “if it wasn’t this, it’d be something else” like proximity to a golf course, highway, airport, gas station, polluted water way, or urban area with lots of spraying, too… or even just having neighbors that spray whatever they want. There is only so much you can control.
We have an RO water filter (though the house would be on city water) and multiple air purifiers, but i just worry the risk of living here is too great. If i can get past this hump and know this risk isn’t too high, the house is a dream come true.
This fear is all a little ironic, because before this southern state, i lived in NYC. I still remember seeing the famous grey-orange sky when the AQI hit 400+ in 2023. Thanks in advance.