<ms131513@mindspring.com> wrote:
I wish it was MORE restricted, but there are very few weed killers
that are
powerful enough to kill a lot of different kinds of weeds, and
essentially
this chemical is available to meet a heavy demand.
I believe 2,4-D is also the weed killer part of weed-n-feed
fertilizers.
Use it heavily and you are putting a fair bit of poison into your
personal
world. Many dog owners have found to their dismay that 2,4-D remains
on the
ground and able to be absorbed by dogs' feet for longer than the
directions
say you need to keep pets off the treated areas. (Depending both on
conditions and how heavy the application was, pets and children might
need
to be kept off the treated areas for a lot longer than the time
recommended
on the packaging.)
And unlike normal humans, dogs lick their feet. This chemical can do
harm
whether ingested or absorbed through the skin.
The manufacturer certainly tries to downplay and deny, but there have
been
so many cases of dogs developing leukemia and other forms of cancer
after
exposure to 2,4-D reported on dog lists that many dog breeders and
owners
simply refuse to use anything on their property that contains it.
Neighbors can also be a real problem. The first situation involving
this
chemical that I heard of was in Hialeah FL, ten or eleven years ago in
a
little neighborhood where there was one neighbor who lived for the
perfect
yard. He was so incensed by weeds on neighbors' properties that might
send
weed seeds onto ~his~ immaculate lawn, he would spray the weed-killer
(using
improperly heavy concentrations because he was so phobic about weeds)
over
the fence onto the neighbors' properties to kill those weeds, and
believed
he was doing a slob a favor.
Naturally, he did not tell the neighbors he was doing this, he was a
retiree
where most of his neighbors worked, and would wait till they weren't
home to
spray their yards. Eventually he was seen by neighbors who WERE home.
But
think of the dogs who walked out into their own yard and got WET in
this
stuff, because their owners didn't know it was there! They did not
know that
their own yard was not safe, and had no idea the dogs should have been
kept
away from it for a minimum period at least.
Over a period of several years, EVERY dog whose yard bordered on this
man's
property died of some form of cancer. Including a young dog owned by
my
friend (under two years old, still an adolescent). On the dog lists
over
the last many years, I have seen various cases reported by heartbroken
owners. Please exercise caution if there are children or dogs not
only on
your property, but on adjacent ones.
--
Colorsplash Farm Apex, NC
Fancy chickens, naturally colored organic eggs
>While chatting with a backyard neighbor about removing dead trees from
>the "wild" area between us, I learned that the previous owner of my
>house had apparently sprayed -- numerous times! -- 2,4-D on the
>"wild" area. Not surprisingly, a lot of stuff in the neighbor's yard
>died when the 2,4-D ran downhill.
>
>Isn't 2,4-D among the restricted herbicides/pesticides for which one
>must have a license? Or are the licensing standards State-level rather
>than Federal?
Lawrence F. London, Jr. Venaura Farm ICQ#27930345
lflondon@mindspring.com london@metalab.unc.edu
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden
metalab.unc.edu/permaculture PermaSphere
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/orgfarm AGINFO
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jul 03 2000 - 12:00:38 EDT