If you think I've been out to lunch, you're right. It was the lunch at Adolph's 55th high school reunion. In other words, we've been out of town and offline, and I hope sometime soon to write about school reunions, which are never what we expect. In the meantime the aroma of pesticides tells me it's time to post something I've already written: my presentation to the Shorewood Village Board on July 11, 2005. As a result, the village created an organic patch of grass, treated only with corn gluten, between the library and the village hall. I hope the trustees will give me more details to post on exactly what has been done and what their plans are when it comes to educating the public and Shorewood's public works about the downside of pesticides. That said, here's an edited version of my presentation:
For nine years my dog, Lilac, spent her days with me, running alongside my bike, napping near my feet, watching me cook dinner, and then she was dead, young, yet dead of cancer. That's when I learned that many dogs are dying young, especially if neighbors, or owners, use lawn pesticides. That was in 1992. Now I have five grandchildren in the Milwaukee area (note: actually now it's six), and the lawns are more toxic than ever. As I read studies and articles, listen to lectures, hear people's
experiences, I realize that pesticides are the 21st century equivalent of cigarettes. But more insidious. When someone blows smoke rings, then coughs, it's easy to make the connection. When someone sprays, if babies are born with birth defects, or sperm counts are down and infertility up, or if years later, people get Parkinson's, leukemia, breast cancer, brain tumors, or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma it's harder to determine cause and effect.
We walk on sprayed lawns and sprayed sidewalks, then walk on our carpets, and those carpets become the most toxic places in our homes. I once asked a ChemLawn employee to stop spraying the sidewalk. He replied, "If this stuff was dangerous, they'd never let me use it." Perhaps he didn't realize that lawn care companies don't have to prove safety; many chemicals were grandfathered in in the 1970's. Grandfathered, a cruel doublespeak, for grandfathers are protective of their grandchildren, yet grandfathering means removing protection to allow chemicals already in use to remain in use when safety standards become more stringent, chemicals innocent until proven deadly. Drug manufacturers must prove the safety of medications, yet even products that are tested, like Vioxx,Celebrex, Prempro, Bayacol, or Propulsid, may later prove dangerous.Often the manufacturers know it and withhold evidence. Now think of the chemical companies, who don't have to prove safety. What evidence are they withholding?
Here are excerpts from
one of many web sites that have researched available studies. "Pesticides ... harm beneficial insects, plants, and microorganisms...Exposure to many commonly used lawn pesticides has been associated with serious health problems in laboratory animals,including cancer, birth defects, reproductive problems, hormonal imbalance, gene mutations and nervous system, liver and kidneydamage. (Abrams, R.,1992: "Lawn care pesticides and safety - what you should know," New York State Department of Law Environmental Protection Bureau fact sheet dated 3/92) Studies have linked the use of lawn pesticides with a four-fold increase in the risk of children developing cancer of the non-bony tissue (soft tissue sarcoma) (Leiss, J.K. and D.A.Savitz,1995: "Home pesticide use and childhood cancer: a case-control study." Am J of Public Health, Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 249-252.) and with two- to six-fold increases in childhood brain cancer... in homes where pesticides were used (Davis, J.R.,et al.,1993: "Family pesticide use and childhood brain cancer," Archives of EnviroContamination and Toxicology, Vol. 24 pp. 87-92). A study of dogs exposed to the most frequently used lawn chemical, 2,4-D, found that when dog owners applied 2,4-D more than four times a year on their lawn the incidence of ...canine malignant lymphoma or CML, doubled.
Here's are excerpts about 2,4-D, which is also used in "weed and feed" products, from
another site ...Component of Agent Orange; Widely found to be contaminated with dioxin; Contaminates urban bodies of water, surface and ground water; Linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma..., to prostate cancer in farmers, ...Edocrine disruption, Reduced sperm counts and/or increased abnormalities in sperm. Found in residential carpet dust up to one year after application outdoors on lawns...Chlorophenoxy
herbicides - which include 2,4-D - are classified in Group 2B (possible carcinogen) by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
People who apply 2,4-D ae warned to wear face shield, goggles or safety glasses, long pants, long
