Pesticides, Your Health, Environment in Dallas-Fort Worth

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Your lawn has a few patchy-spots in the grass.. You pride yourself on your beautiful green lawn. So you stop by Home Depot to pick up a few sacks of fertilizer, a "weed and feed," then arise early on Saturday morning to apply them to the "prettiest lawn in the neighborhood."

Your children play there the entire week-end. You have the neighbors over for a backyard potluck to celebrate the latest addition to your family due in 7 months.

For the price of green lawns, children are also being poisoned. In fact, your beautiful lawn has probably endangered not only your own health but also the health of your children, born and unborn, your wife, and your neighbors.

Tests test reveals that pesticides harm your health.

Pesticides and Parkinson's Disease Linked

The February issue of Environmental Health Perspectives contains a review of 38 scientific studies published since 1983 revealing a "consistent relationship between pesticide exposure and Parkinson,s Disease."

Chemicals reviewed included:

Parquet, an herbicide commonly found in Ortho Weed & Spot Killer and Sweep
Maneb, an herbicide often combined with paraquat. Brand names include Farmaneb and Manesan
Rotenone, an insecticide marketed under a variety of brand names, including Curex Flea Duster, Chem-Mite and Derrin
Cyclodiene, a type of organochlorine pesticide marketed under the names Thionex, Phaser and Thioden
Pyrethroid, an insecticide with a variety of trademarks, including Capture, Ammo, Warrior, Mustang and Pyganic

In 2000, a Stanford University study linked Parkinson's risk to exposure to pesticides in the course of work, such as on the farm. The same study also linked insecticide exposure in the home and garden to a 70% increase in risk of the disorder.

Lawn Chemical 2,4-D Dangerous for Reproduction

2,4-D is a colorless, odorless powder used as a herbicide for the control of broad-leaf weeds in agriculture, and for control of woody plants along roadsides, railways, and utilities rights of way. It has been most widely used on such crops as wheat and corn, and on pasture and rangelands. 2,4-D is widely used in yards.

"People assume that if a product is on the shelves of their local store, it's safe," noted Dr. Susan Kegley, Senior Scientist at the Pesticide Action Network. "But 2,4-D is far from safe.

California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has taken steps to identify 2, 4-D as “known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity” and will notify the public that "chemicals they are using on their lawn can affect women's ability to bear healthy children."

Approximately 46 million pounds of 2,4-D are used in the U.S. each year. Studies from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that fully one quarter of the U.S. population carries 2,4-D in their bodies, and children between the ages of six and eleven have significantly higher exposure rates compared to older children and adults.

Currently, 2,4-D is widely used in neighborhoods. Forms of the chemical are found in approximately 660 agricultural and home use products in the United States. One popular use of 2,4-D is as a weed killer mixed with fertilizer for lawns, sold under brand names such as Trimec Weed and Feed. Because companies mix herbicide and fertilizer in the same product, homeowners who simply want to fertilize their lawns often end up applying large doses of the herbicide as well.

EPA risk assessments indicate that home lawn care products account for 96% of the risk associated with using this chemical for the most sensitive sub-population (women of childbearing age), and that anticipated doses are very close to the level of concern. Exposures to 2,4-D can also come from other sources, including food residues and drinking water.

Exposure to 2,4-D in drinking water is also coming under increasing scrutiny. U.S. EPA currently uses a limit of 70 parts per billion (ppb) as the level of concern, but the Minnesota Department of Health is proposing a draft guideline of six ppb for 2,4-D, based on EPA's own risk assessment. 2,4-D is capable of leaching into ground water, is sometimes used as an aquatic herbicide, and is used near waterways that may be drinking water sources.

Beyond Pesticides cites this pesticide as demonstrating adverse Reproductive Effects, Neurotoxicity, Kidney / Liver Damage, Sensitizer / Irritant, Birth Defects and a human carcinogen based on National Cancer Institute epidemiological evidence.

The list of trade names given below may help you find out whether you are using this chemical at home or work. Trade Names and Synonyms:

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"Agent White"
Bladex-B
Brush Killer 64
Dicofur
Dormon
Ipaner
Moxon
Netagrone
Pielik
Verton 38
Weedar
Fernesta
Lawn-Keep
Pennamine D
Plantgard
Tributon
Weed-B-Gon

Mota Maskros
Silvaprop 1
Agricorn D
Acme LV4
Croprider
Salvo
Weedatul
Agroxone
Green Cross Weed-No-More 80
Red Devil Dry Weed Killer
Scott's 4XD
Weed-Rhap LV40
Weedone 100
2,4-Dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid

So, some chemicals are a tad dangerous but we all know that a little Sevin is safe, right?

Carbaryl (Sevin ™)

How many times have you heard, "Oh, we just sprinkle a little Sevin-dust on it?" This may apply to the tomatoes growing near the picnic table, the weeds coming through the decking around the pool, or the family dog.

Carbaryl (Sevin ™) is said by EPA to be “one of the most widely applied insecticides in the US,” since use began in 1959, with 10-15 million pounds used annually. This widespread use is a major reason why carbaryl may pose more dangers than most other pesticides.

Carbaryl, a carbamate, is a contact nerve toxin that inhibits the enzyme cholinesterase, with a resulting disruption of nerve impulse transmissions. Carbaryl is readily absorbed through the skin, with almost total absorption through the forearm and scrotum.

Manufactured by Union Carbide, this broad-spectrum insecticide is used on a variety of crops, in forestry and on ornamentals, in home gardens, and on livestock and pets. One manufacturing method uses methyl isocyanate (MIC), the agent responsible for thousands of deaths in Bhopal, India when a Union Carbide plant leaked the deadly gas.

Beyond Pesticides cites this pesticide as demonstrating adverse Reproductive Effects, Neurotoxicity, Kidney / Liver Damage, Sensitizer / Irritant, Birth Defects and possible human carcinogen.

The list goes on... and on... and on. The best solution, for the earth and its inhabitants, is to garden organic. And to follow the lead of Quebec so your neighbors will garden organic.

Quebec Bans Pesticides

Quebec did the right thing and solved the problem. Another example of local governments doing what national governments will not do. A new era in pesticide use has begun, we hope, as Quebec bans many products that have chemicals considered toxic to humans and the environment.

With its ban on 20 active ingredients, 210 lawn-care products are now off the market, giving Quebec the toughest standards in North America.

Home gardeners may no longer use such popular herbicides as Green Cross Killex, C-I-L Tri-Kill and Weedex that contain 2,4-D to rid lawns of dandelions and other weeds. Insecticides such as Sevin that include Carbaryl are also banned.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, based in Toronto, said the code makes Quebec a leader in protecting human and animal health.

Health Canada warned pesticides have been linked to childhood cancer, birth defects, and neurological diseases such as Parkinson's Disease.

Michel Gaudet, president of the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, said that Quebec law is now in line with 2,4-D prohibitions in effect in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Don Cerone, nurseryman, said the ban means gardeners will have to get back to basics such as good soil and follow the basic principle: "The more dense your grass, the less room there is for weeds."

Sources: Stanford University; Environmental Health Perspectives; "The Pesticide Scandal." Family Circle 2 April 1991; City of Quebec; Health Canada; Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides; Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and. Reproductive and Cancer Hazard Assessment Branch, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment; California Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Pesticide Action Network United Kingdom. 1997. "2,4-D Fact Sheet"; Minnesota Department of Health; Ohio University Extension; Beyond Pesticides

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