Need to Know. . .
From... the NY State Lawn Care Association...
A Word About Pest Controls (Pesticides)
It's important to remember pesticides in Lawn Care are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, and by authorities in states where they are used. Normally only 1 in 20,000 compounds, commonly costing $50,000,000 or more and requiring at least 10 years of rigorous testing and reviews, will make it to market. Children, pets, your family and neighbors can feel at ease because even with incidental contact from these materials,
any health concerns should be remote or non-existent. And interestingly, some outdoor pesticides are medicines too! Examples: Lindane used for spider mites, is also used in shampoo to control body lice; MyconasoI or Mycotin to combat turf fungus, - in a cream controls athlete's foot; Streptomycin and Oxytetracycine for turf diseases, are used as antibiotics to control strept-throat and tuberculosis; and Warfarin, a rodent control, is likewise a blood thinner to reduce clotting, especially for vein thrombosis. Also for pets, i.e., Merit @ (Imidacloprid)), which is possibly now the most widely used subsurface grub larvae turf insecticide (very low dose, very low toxicity) is the same exact ingredient used at 9 times the strength (over turf) for control of fleas and skin/hair insects on pets (Advantage ®, trade name by Bayer ®).
Also F. Y.I., commercial lawn care applicators get up to 10,000 times more potential exposure than customers and yet, studies show applicators actually have less short and long term adverse health effects. In fact, applicator technicians are among the healthiest people in society!
Unfortunately, a false perception from misinformation has arisen in some of the media to cast doubt over pesticide use. To us, the facts and the truth are all that matter. Reputable, authoritative science is 'going our way' in support of continued judicious use of pesticides in lawn care. Should you desire to know more, write to: New York State Lawn Care Association, Box 6, Churchville NY, 14428. Also, we encourage you to visit these web sites:
www.pestfacts.org
'Growing Turf Protects Our Environment'