Toxic Time Bombs on the Home Front

By: Sandra Brigola  (copyright 1996)

The flowering currants are in bloom , signalling the arrival of our hummingbird family and Spring is here, even though the weather outside may say otherwise. Time to turn our thoughts to the garden and what goes into it.

What does this have to do with canine health you may ask?  Plenty!  I decided to take a tour of my local garden shop and look at  pest control products.  What a plethora of products, one whole wall was lined with all manner of slug baits , aphid controls, and weed control products; all for homeowner use! Having been a landscape designer and landscaper for many years, and holding a pesticide license; the average homeowner probably doesn't know what is in those neatly packaged products all designed to keep the turf and garden neat and pest free!

PESTICIDES

Pesticides are big business..to the tune of $30 billion dollars! For home use they are

divided into Insecticides, Herbicides and Fungicides.

So you want to get rid of all those dandelions plaguing your lawn and sidewalk!  You have a wide choice of products:

Killex , made by Green Cross is a product that jumped out at me..contains  2-4-D, Mecoprop and Dicamba.

Weed Stop is another product made by Laters that contains similar ingredients plus Trifluratin .

Other products  containing  2-4-D in them are Aqua -Kleen, Cloroxone, Dacamine, Estasol, Esteron, Esteron 64, Formula 40,Herbate 2,4,D, Hoe-Grass, Salad, Ten-Ten, Verton,  and Weedar. Weedex, Weed-B-Gone, and  Weedone also contain Fenoprop.

2-4-D is the only herbicide that will kill dandelions and consequently is added to many formulas, a veritable toxic soup!

2-4-D was a major component (50%) of the product Agent Orange which was used extensively throughout Vietnam, as a defoliant. Dogs that were given low doses of 2-4-D in their food for 2 years died; toxicologists say that dogs probably do not excrete Organic acids efficiently! Low doses fed to rats over two years caused an increase in malignant tumors. Female mice given a single injection of 2-4-D developed cancer (reticulum-cell sarcomas.) An increased occurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found among a Kansas and Nebraska farm population associated with the spraying of 2-4-D.

All the above products are reputed to be hormone disruptors. In other words causing birth defects, reproduction problems and endocrine disrupting effects. 

A product named Weed Rite contains paraquat and diquat, and  2-4-D. Paraquat is a deadly chemical; there is no antidote to this poison ...ingest a little and you're history!

Most of these come in very handy spray bottles, conveniently mixed, for a little squirt here and a little squirt there.

Monsanto's specialty  is Roundup which is supposed to be a broad spectrum herbicide, that doesn't linger in the soil, it contains glyphosate. Sidekick is another name for it. This is the herbicide that Monsanto has developed all those genetically engineered foods for. The seeds of these special plants have developed a resistance to Roundup, which in essence means more Roundup being sprayed on food crops. Roundup has been found to be the third most commonly reported cause of pesticide poisoning among farm workers.

MCPA is another herbicide, similar to 2-4-D which is a Phenoxyacetic  Compound  or (hormone) compound, which is formulated as esters;  this little gem is used to kill creeping buttercup, chickweed clover and thistle.

Then we have Casoron, a granular powder; after weeding in the fall or late winter this is applied to the soil to prevent weeds and seeds from taking off in the spring. Chemical name is dichlobenil, and  it is known as a benzonitrile compound.  I saw this under the name of  Webfoot!

What to get rid of those pesky aphids?  We have a product called Malathion , in which several studies have documented developmental and reproductive defects in test animals, producing detectable mutations in three different types of cultured human cells, including white blood cells and lymph cells. It has been shown to affect both the adrenal glands and the liver of rats, and has effects on blood clotting time.  Malathion  is also suspected of being carcinogenic.

We also have Carbaryl or Sevin for cutworms and sow bugs and over 100 species of insects . Carbaryl is considered moderate to very toxic to humans. Inhaling the fumes can range from symptoms of nausea to convulsions. Ingestion of carbaryl affects the lungs, kidneys and liver.

Organophosphates, carbamates and chlorinated derivatives of nicotine work against  pests by interfering with, or inhibiting cholinesterase. What is cholinesterase?  Cholinesterase is an enzyme needed for the proper functioning of the nervous systems of humans, other vertebrates and insects.

Exposure to cholinesterase inhibiting chemicals can result from inhalation, ingestion, eye or skin contact from manufacture, mixing or application of these pesticides.

Electrical switching centers, called synapses are found throughout the nervous system. Muscles, glands and nerve fibres called neurons are stimulated by the constant firing of signals across these synapses . Stimulating signals are usually carried by a chemical called acetylcholine.  Stimulating signals are discontinued by a specific  type of cholinesterase enzyme, acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down the acetylcholine. These important chemical reactions are usually going on all the time at a very fast rate, with  acetylcholine causing stimulation and acetylcholinesterase ending the signal. (Phew, I hope I didn't lose you!)  If cholinesterase-affecting  insecticides are present in the synapses, however, this situation is thrown out of balance. Thus when  a body receives too great an exposure to cholinesterase inhibiting compounds, the body is unable to break down the acetylcholine.

Electrical impulses can fire away continuously unless the number of messages being sent through the synapse is limited by the action of cholinesterase. Repeated and unchecked firing of electrical signals can cause uncontrolled rapid twitching of some muscles, paralysed breathing, convulsions and in extreme cases, death.

There now is considerable evidence that widely used pesticides suppress immune responses to bacteria, viruses, parasites and tumors making people and animals more vulnerable to disease. Most pesticides on the market have never been adequately tested in laboratories for immunotoxic effects. Pesticides reduce the number of white blood cells and disease fighting lymphocytes and impair their ability to respond to and kill viruses.

They alter the development of the thymus and spleen,  which are key immune organs.

Let's not forget about that new wood deck you've just built;  if the wood has been pressure treated, chances are it's been preserved with the chemical Pentachlorophenal,  aka as PBB's. PBB's are right up there with Dioxins , Furans and PCB's  and  known as Persistent Organohalogens , hormone disrupters and are extremely toxic. Think about that as you and your 4-legged pets lounge around  absorbing all those toxins through your skin!

Do you really need these toxic time bombs in your garden? Think about how often your pets and children play on lawns or run through your garden, bringing these chemicals into your home . Animals lick their feet ingesting these poisons, rubbing against sprayed leaves or bushes can lead to ingestion through the skin. Just breathing this stuff can cause problems;  I know , because I was the victim of pesticide poisoning having had to use it for commercial  landscape jobs.  I vowed, never again would I ever handle pesticides of any type and just being in that garden centre for 15 minutes made me feel nauseous and dizzy.