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From the "You Thought the Use of Pesticides Was Bad Now, Just Wait" file, courtesy of the New York Times, via the Environmental Protection Agency:(Click here to read the entire article; I've copied only a handful of paragraphs below. Make sure you have your sense of irony when reading! Actually, I've made it easy and made bold anything that sent my internal sense-of-irony-and-utter-disgust meter into haywire.)
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said that the widely used herbicide 2,4-D would remain on the market, denying a petition from an environmental group that sought to revoke the chemical’s approval.
"First approved in the late 1940s, 2,4-D is one of the most widely used weed killers in the world. It is an ingredient of numerous home lawn-care products, and it is used by farmers.
"Dow Chemical is thought to be the major manufacturer, though the E.P.A. has also approved versions from Nufarm, an Australian company, and Agro-Gor, a joint venture of PBI/Gordon of Kansas City, Mo., and Atanor of Argentina.
"Use of the chemical is expected to grow substantially in the coming years because Dow is seeking federal approval to sell seeds of corn genetically engineered to be resistant to 2,4-D.
"Farmers planting that corn would be able to spray 2,4-D on their fields to kill weeds without hurting the crop. Now, 2,4-D is not used much on corn, the nation’s most widely grown crop.
"The group cited various studies suggesting that exposure to 2,4-D could cause cancer, hormone disruption, genetic mutations and neurotoxicity. It also said the E.P.A., in previous assessments, had underestimated how much people, especially children, might be exposed to the chemical through dust, breast milk and skin contact.
"In its ruling, the E.P.A. said that while some studies cited suggested that high doses of the chemical could be harmful, they did not establish lack of safety, and in some cases they were contradicted by other studies.
"The agency in particular cited a study, financed by the 2,4-D manufacturers and conducted by Dow, in which the chemical was put into the feed of rats. The study did not show reproductive problems in the rats or problems in their offspring that might be expected if 2,4-D were disrupting hormone activity, the E.P.A. said.
"Some studies have shown a higher risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among farmers who use the chemical. But E.P.A. reviewers have said the farmers might have been exposed to many things, making it difficult to state that 2,4-D was the cause.
"2,4-D was an ingredient of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in the Vietnam War that is said to have harmed many Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers. Most experts say the main health problems came from contamination of 2,4,5-T, the other major ingredient in Agent Orange."
Scientific research shows, as reported through EPA's and Health Canada’s VAST TOXICOLOGY DATABASE, that NO harm will occur when pest control products like 2,4-D are used according to label directions.
ReplyDeleteAnti-Pesticide Activists are TOTALLY WRONG !
2,4-D causes NO HARM, including chronic effects such as CANCER.
2,4-D DOES NOT CAUSE CANCER.
Only pest control products that DO NOT POSE AN UNACCEPTABLE RISK OF CANCER in humans are registered for use.
In fact, NO cause-and-effect relationship between pest control products like 2,4-D and cancer has been established scientifically.
Despite the opposite claims of activists, NO regulatory body in the world classifies 2,4-D as a human carcinogen.
Even Canadian Cancer Society’s own web-site states that scientific research does NOT provide a conclusive link be-tween pesticides and human cancer.
How do we know for sure ?
2,4-D has been used for the control of broad-leaved weeds in the Urban Landscape SINCE 1946.
2,4-D has a 65-YEAR UNBLEMISHED SAFETY RECORD regarding long-term risk to health.
In 2007, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada issued a ruling that 2,4-D IS NOT CANCER-CAUSING IN HUMANS.
Since 1988, The Industry Task Force II on 2,4-D Research Data has submitted to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over 250 mammalian and environmental toxicology, environmental fate, and residue studies.
2,4-D is probably THE MOST studied and best understood of ANY chemical ... not just pesticide ... in existence.
2,4-D has been the subject of over 40,000 studies.
2,4-D is not only among the MOST THOROUGHLY TESTED pest control products, it is among the MOST THOROUGHLY REVIEWED and RE-EVALUATED.
2,4-D has been RE-EVALUATED 17 TIMES, and each time passing tougher scrutiny.
2,4-D is SCIENTIFICALLY SAFE !
Nonetheless, Anti-Pesticide Activists COULD NEVER BE BOTHERED to use the EXTENSIVE TOXICOLOGY DATABASE that is available from either Health Canada or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Evidently, these activists prefer to attempt PROFITING from Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION with their own organizations or businesses, at the expense of the Professional Lawn Care Industry.
For more information regarding 2,4-D HERBICIDE, go to the following link ...
http://pesticidetruths.com/toc/24-d/
WILLIAM H. GATHERCOLE AND NORAH G
NORAHG is the National Organization Responding Against HUJE that seek to harm the Green space industry.
NORAHG is a NATIONAL NON PROFIT NON PARTISAN organization that is dedicated to reporting the work of RESPECTED and HIGHLY RATED EXPERTS who promote ENVIRONMENTAL REALISM and PESTICIDE TRUTHS.
http://pesticidetruths.com/