Lawn Chemicals

Lawn Chemicals Excerpts from American Water Works Assn. 2006 Water Sources Conference Albuquerque, NM Amy Vickers, Author •

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Estimate 80 million U.S. households use home and garden pesticides (EPA, 2004) – 3-10 times more chemicals applied per acre of lawn than crops U.S. Geological Survey of streams, surface water – Pesticide residues Environmental Working Group, “Body Burden” – Pesticide residues Lawn fertilizers and pesticides contribute to ground and surface water quality degradation p Eutrophication – Increased treatments costs – Adverse impacts on health of people, animal, aquatic, and other living systems Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides: 13 are probably or possible carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 are linked with reproductive effects, 15 are linked with reproductive neurotoxicity, 26 are linked with reproductive, liver or kidney damage, 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, 11 have potential to disrupt the endocrine system Exposure pathways: air, feet/paws/shoes, drinking water Landscape chemical runoff returns to ground and surface water-many drinking water sources National Institute of Health, In Harms Way study – 80% tested had pesticide residues in blood – increased risk of breast, testicular, other cancers 50% of lifetime pesticide exposure occurs during first 5 years of life, est. Nat’l Academy of Sciences – Children take in more pesticides relative to body weight than adults Home and garden pesticide use can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times – Lowengart, R. et al., Jr National Cancer Institute Pesticide, enviro cancer links in companion animals – www.vet.cornell.edu/cancer/Comparative.ht ml

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Death certificates for 618 golf course superintendents found unusually high numbers of deaths from cancer, nonHodgkin’s lymphoma – University of Iowa, College of Medicine Study Canada: 66 cities and towns prohibit lawn chemicals – Canadian Supreme Court decision, November 2005 – More bans expected to follow “Since ornamental use of pesticides has no countervailing health benefit and has the potential to cause harm, we call for a ban on the use of pesticides on lawns and gardens.” – Canadian Cancer Society Although we don’t have all the scientific data, it’s better to err on the side of caution” and call for an outright pesticide ban because of previously discovered links between pesticides and cancer. – Quebec College of Family Physicians “Refuse to Use ChemLawn” campaign – 17 of 32 (53%) of TruGreen ChemLawn’s pesticide products include ingredients that are possible carcinogens according to EPA and WHO