Keeping lawns green at what danger?

Click Here to Add Comment

Previous

Current Articles

Next

Subject:     Keeping lawns green at what danger?
     Date:     Tue, 1 Jul 2003
    From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

EDITORIALS

Keeping lawns green at what danger?

June 30, 2003

The over-prized pristine green lawns and fairways of Fairfield County come at a price that, the evidence continues to suggest, is intolerably high. On the strength of new scientific validation of what common sense long ago told us, public policy and personal decisions should be modified to deter the promiscuous use of chemical pesticides.

A new report, "Risks from Lawn-Care Pesticides," released this week in Connecticut, concludes that lawn-care pesticides pose significant risks to human health. Medical studies cited in the report link many pesticides to birth defects, childhood leukemia, some nervous system disorders and, most directly, to cancer.

Two particular points should compel attention. One, the dangers are higher for children, whose developing bodies are less able to fight off toxic effects. Two, our region is where lawn pesticide use is most intensive. In this highly developed, highly populated area, manicuring the back yard, the estate lawn or the golf course is an ingrained tradition. Some of our suburban areas are more saturated with pesticides than farmland, it was reported. And the dangers being cited amplify the fact the pesticides do harm less from an occasional contact than from a pattern of long-term, low level of exposure.

We already knew that lawn chemicals, including fertilizers, have been harmful to Long Island Sound. Multiply each homeowner's small application by millions to comprehend the runoff across the huge watershed that leads to the Sound.

This new study, as well as health advocates, are suggesting some steps that really are not that radical: stricter labeling and packaging requirements that could help lead to more respect for these poisons. It is a sensible conclusion.

In many respects these days, we reach for the chemicals when pests bug us. While there has been a general consensus among health officials and much of the public in recent years to combat West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes with chemicals, increasing numbers of residents object to the overkill and potential harmful side effects. The public has learned to fear ticks, and rodent poisoning is widely practiced. But in the case of green lawns, the argument is simple to clarify. West Nile and other viruses have killed people. Crabgrass won't.

In addition to at least minimally strengthening controls over toxic pesticides, we'd suggest that personal choices can accomplish at least as much and probably more. There are very simple ways to make a difference.

Anyone considering chemical pesticides should simply take the time to read up on the potential hazards. This new study could be on that reading list. Families and educators can contact any of several environmental groups to learn about the effects. Parents should be doubly cautious, and either choose to skip use of the poisons or make very sure they limit children's exposure.

Considering the cost, all of us could put up with a few dandelions.

R.K. Simon, PHD

Copyright © 2003, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

---

[Point to Ponder:  Has anyone ever read the label of any pesticide whether off the store shelf or applied by a pest control company to find anything that states:  "Safe for use around children, pets, or pregnant women?"]

If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, please email us at list@safe2use.com.