Your Health

• According to the EPA, 95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are possible/probable carcinogens. i Congress found that 90% of the pesticides on the market lack even minimal required safety screening. ii


• A University of Iowa study of golf course superintendents found abnormally high rates of death due to cancer of the brain, large intestine, and prostate. iii Other experts are beginning to link golfers, and non-golfers who live near fairways, with these same problems. iv


• Of the 34 most used lawn pesticides, 33 have not been tested for human health hazards. Pesticide registration is not a consumer safety program. Even when the EPA does refuse a pesticide registration, the manufacturer often files a lawsuit, which keeps the chemical on the market. v


• Symptoms of pesticide poisoning can be deceptively simple, commonly misdiagnosed as flu or allergies. They include, but are not limited to: headaches, nausea, fever, coughing, seizures, eye pains, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, sore nose, tongue or throat, burning skin, rashes, muscle pain, blurred vision, numbness and tingling in hands or feet, incontinence, anxiety, irritability, sleep disorders, hyperactivity, fatigue, and high blood pressure.


• Long-term consequences of exposure to lawn pesticides include: lowered fertility, ADHD vi, autism spectrum disorders vii, birth defects, miscarriages, blindness, liver and kidney dysfunction, neurological damage, heart trouble, stroke, immune system disorders, menstrual problems, memory loss, suicidal depression, cancer, and death.


• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), a medical condition characterized by the body's inability to tolerate relatively low exposure to chemicals, is triggered by exposure to such chemicals and environmental pollutants as pesticides. Symptoms can include cardiovascular problems, depression, and muscle and joint pains. Over time, individuals suffering from MCS will begin to react adversely to substances that formerly did not affect them.


• In 1989, the National Cancer Institute reported children develop leukemia six times more often when pesticides are used around their home. viii In February 2009, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found that children who live in homes where pesticides are used are twice as likely to develop brain cancer versus those in which no pesticides are used. ix Exposure before the age of one is linked to a four-fold increase in childhood asthma. x


• The most danger from pesticides comes from inhaling residues and absorbing them through the skin. Those at highest risk are children. xi Children take in more pesticides relative to body weight than adults and are less able to detoxify toxic chemicals. xii


• The term “organic” can legally be applied to any compound containing carbon and hydrogen. Some pesticides labeled “biodegradable” actually degrade into compounds more dangerous than the original. xiii


• Homeowners use up to ten times as much pesticide per acre as farmers. xiv A Virginia Tech study found that homeowners apply chemicals in ways that damage water supplies. v


• Lawn care companies and manufacturers have been sued for fictitious claims and damages, but many suits are settled out of court. Often, the settlements restrain victims from discussing their injuries, so the public remains uninformed. xvi

Your Pet’s Health

• Dogs (and children) have a higher ratio of skin surface in relation to their body size, which gives them a proportionally larger surface area which can absorb toxins.


• According to a study, conducted over a six-year period at the Foster Hospital for Small Animals at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, a dog’s exposure to lawn pesticides – specifically those applied by professional lawn care companies – raised the risk of canine malignant lymphoma (CML) by as much as 70 percent.


• From the published study, dogs at highest risk for acquiring CML were over 50 pounds, living in homes where pesticides and herbicides were professionally applied, and living in homes where owners used lawn care products containing insect growth regulators (insect growth regulators are chemical killing agents).


• Dogs exposed to pesticide-treated grass such as 2,4-D and other weed killers have increased risks of bladder cancer by two times. xvii


• A landmark 2004 study from Purdue University showed that dogs exposed to chemically treated lawns, specifically those treated with 2, 4-D, dramatically increased the risk of Transitional Cell Carcinoma (bladder cancer) in Scottish Terriers by four to seven times. Other breeds considered at high risk of developing this type of cancer include Shetland Sheepdogs, West Highland Terriers and Beagles.


• In a 1991 study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a link was found between 2, 4-D and malignant lymphoma in dogs and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in people. According to the study, "researchers report that dogs were two times more likely to develop lymphoma if their owners sprayed or sprinkled the 2,4-D herbicide on the lawn four or more times a year. [And] even with just one application a season, the cancer risk was one-third higher than among dogs whose owners did not use the chemical." Breeds at highest risk of developing lymphoma include Boxers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Scottish Terriers, West Highland Terriers and Pointers.


• Whatever pesticides collect on dogs’ paws and fur stay there until the next time they get a bath—and also get tracked inside, where they don’t break down in the absence of water and sunlight.


• Dogs don't just walk on the grass, they roll, lay, sniff, and dig in it—all opportunities to inhale, absorb, and ingest more toxins than the average human would.

Water

• Homeowners use up to ten times as much pesticide per acre as farmers. xviii A Virginia Tech study found that homeowners apply chemicals in ways that damage water supplies. xix


• Human health effects, including low birth weights, breast cancer, and low sperm counts are linked to herbicide-contaminated water.


• Frogs exhibit hermaphrodism when exposed to legally allowable levels of the herbicide atrazine in waterways.


• Dozens of pesticides and their degradation products contaminate waterways and escape regulatory oversight.


• Runoff from urban lawn pesticides contaminates local watersheds and stresses municipal water treatment.


• Stormwater runoff is one of the most serious water quality problems facing Long Island Sound. Because 40% to 80% of our developed suburban communities have surfaces that are impervious to rainwater, 30% to 50% of rainwater runs off into nearby streams and rivers and eventually winds up in the Long Island Sound. With each rainfall, water runs off roofs and pavement, causing flooding and sewage overflows and carrying pollutants to Long Island Sound. Modern cities are heavily paved, disrupting the natural evaporation and soil absorption of rainfall. Huge quantities of water run off hard surfaces rapidly, accumulating greases, salts, fertilizers and pesticides that can kill fish and damage shellfish beds and aquatic plants.


• Sewage and lawn additives deliver high levels of nutrients to the Long Island Sound. These act as fertilizers, fueling the growth of massive algae blooms which consume oxygen as they decompose, suffocating marine organisms.


• Children are not adequately protected by federal limits of pesticides in water.


• Because various pesticides have been repeatedly detected in well water, the EPA proposed a State Management Program (SMP), which would control or ban pesticides with the greatest potential to contaminate groundwater. Five pesticides were initially selected due to the frequency of their occurrence: alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and simazine (herbicides used to control broadleaf weeds and grasses). According to the EPA, they all have been detected in many states, and have the potential to reach levels that exceed safety standards. All are associated with serious health effects, including cancer.


• Once in groundwater, pesticides and their degradation products can persist for years.

Bees

• Many pesticides are acutely toxic to bees and result in death, specifically carbamates, organophosphates, synthetic pyrethroids, chlorinated cylcodienes, and neonicotinoids.


• Pesticides, alone and in combination with other factors, have had a devastating effect on honeybees and wild pollinators. Pesticides commonly found in lawn and garden products and used in agriculture are known to be hazardous to bees—some killing bees outright and others with subtle effects that reduce a bee’s ability to thrive.


• Approximately 90 percent of all flowering plants require pollinators to survive. In agriculture, nearly a third of pollination is accomplished by honeybees. Cucumbers, almonds, carrots, melons, apricots, cherries, pears, apples, prunes, plums, cantaloupe, onions, avocados, kiwi, blueberries, cranberries and more depend on honeybee pollination.


• In North Dakota, a lawsuit is pending against pesticide manufacturer Bayer, for the loss of bees in 1995, the result of spraying rapeseed with Imidacloprid. In 1999, the same product was banned in France for use as a seed dressing for sunflowers when they lost one-third of their hives after widespread spraying. In 2004, it was banned for use on corn. Recently, France refused to approve Bayer's request to sell Clothianidin.

Photo copyright by Monkey Business Images

i “Lawn Chemical Dangers,” American Defender Network, 1989; “Warning: The Use of Pesticides May be Hazardous to Your Health,” American Cancer Society, Erie County Branch.

ii “Lawn Chemical Dangers, American Defender Network, 1989.

iii Osha Gray Davidson, “Pesticides: The Killing Fields.”

iv New York State Attorney General’s Office, “Toxic Fairways: Risking Groundwater Contamination from Long Island Golf Courses,” New York State Department of Law, 1990; Associated Press, “Lawn Herbicide Called Cancer Risk for Dogs,” The New York Times, September 4, 1991.

v Osha Gray Davidson, “Pesticides: The Killing Fields,” Woman’s Day, September 20, 1994; and Kathryne Sayan, “The Pesticide Scandal,” Family Circle, April 2, 1991.

vi From Toxics Action Center. In May 2010, scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University released a study that found that exposure to pesticide residues on vegetables and fruit may double a child’s risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition that can cause inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in children.

vii From Toxics Action Center. A July 2007 study conducted by researchers at the Public Health Institute, the California Department of Health Services, and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health found a six-fold increase in risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for children of women who were exposed to organochlorine pesticides.

viii Ibid.

ix Toxics Action Center, toxicsactioncenter.org.

x Phil Boise, et al., “GreenCare for Children. Measuring Environmental Hazards in the Childcare Industry: Pesticides, Lead, and Indoor Air Quality,” Community Environmental Council, 2004.

xi Sharon Begley and Mary Hager, “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” Newsweek, May 16, 1988; William K. Stevens, “Public Said to Disregard Dangers of Manicuring the Greensward,” The New York Times, September 17, 1990; and Barry Meier, “Lawn Care Concern Says It Will Limit Safety Claims,” The New York Times, June 30, 1990.

xii U.S. EPA, 1996. Office of the Administrator. Environmental Health Threats to Children, EPA 175-F-96-001.

xiii Begley and Hager, “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.”

xiv William K. Stevens, “Public Said to Disregard Dangers of Manicuring the Greensward”; and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Pest Control.

xv Vera D. Cohn, “The Chemical Quest for the Perfect Lawn: Pesticide, Fertilizer Runoff Ending Up in the Area’s Water Supply,” The Washington Post, April 28, 1991.

xvi Kathryne Sayan, “The Pesticide Scandal.”

xvii L. Glickman et al., 2004. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 24:1290-1297. H.M. Hayes, 1991. J Natl Cancer Inst. 83(17): 1226-31. H.M. Hayes et al., 1995. Environ Res. 70(2): 119-25.

xviii William K. Stevens, “Public Said to Disregard Dangers of Manicuring the Greensward”; and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Pest Control.

xix Vera D. Cohn, “The Chemical Quest for the Perfect Lawn: Pesticide, Fertilizer Runoff Ending Up in the Area’s Water Supply,” The Washington Post, April 28, 1991.