CHEM-TOX COMMENT:
The following report on lawn pesticides was written by Nathan Diegelman of the S.T.A.T.E Foundation.  This report should be used by any person or organization wishing to make changes in pesticide use policies in schools, government buildings, or even neighborhood spray policies.  It is well written and clearly documents how conventional pesticide applications can cause significant illnesses over time.  All pesticide health effects statements have been clearly documented, making this a reputable tool for policy change and protection of public health.  We highly recommend concerned citizens write "Letters to the Editor" to their local newspapers quoting important points from this report as a "first-step" in generating public concern and understanding.
 
 Poison In The Grass:
 The Hazards And Consequences Of Lawn Pesticides
 
 Nathan Diegelman
 The S.T.A.T.E. Foundation
 [email protected]
 
 As the use of lawn chemicals and pesticides has grown, questions have
 arisen regarding safety hazards and environmental consequences. This report
 gives factual findings to help answer many of these concerns. Some of them
 may seem shocking, since the chemical pesticide industry has made every
 effort to keep this information from the public. Everything that follows in
 this report is documented and supported by the U.S.Federal Government,
 private agencies, and other experts.
 
 Contrary to what lawn "care" companies would like people to believe,
 herbicides (weed killers) and other pesticides are not "magic bullets".
 They are broad spectrum biocides, and by their very nature can harm
 organisms other than targeted species. This includes homeowners and their
 families, neighbors, pets, and all other forms of life. The pesticide
 industry downplays this by claiming their chemicals are heavily diluted,
 but doesn't mention the toxins are still extremely dangerous in small
 amounts. They also are unwilling to mention all of what is in their
 mixtures. Many components are classified as "inert", which allows them to
 be kept hidden from the public and not listed on product labels. These are
 more than just fillers or solvents. "Inert" does not mean "inactive" -
 some, such as benzene and xylene, are more toxic than listed chemicals.(1,2)
 
 Listed chemicals can be just as dangerous. They include components of
 war-time defoliants like Agent Orange, nerve-gas type insecticides, and
 artificial hormones. Some the Federal Government has even prohibited from
 use on it's own property. Many pesticides are not safe when dry. Water
 evaporates, but most pesticides remain and continue to release often
 odorless and invisible toxic vapors. In areas where lawn spraying is
 common, they accumulate in a toxic smog throughout the entire season. Some
 pesticides remain active for years after application. DDT is still showing
 up in higher rates in women's breast milk than the government permits in
 cow's milk.(4) Fat soluble pesticides accumulate over time in our bodies,
 then are released at potentially toxic levels when illness or stress
 results in our fat reserves being metabolised.A large portion of a woman's
 lifetime exposure to such pesticides is released in the breast milk for her
 firstborn child.(37)
 
 It is a violation of U.S.Federal law to claim pesticides are "safe when
 used as directed" since nothing can assure safety.(2,3,5) (However,
 Agriculture Canada, the federal agency responsible until recently for
 licensing pesticides in Canada, routinely used this statement, adding for
 good measure that "most pesticides are safer than table salt". Fortunately,
 pesticides in Canada are now licensed by Health Canada.) Some pesticides
 labeled "bio-degradable" degrade into compounds more dangerous than the
 original. Examples include Mancozeb, which degrades into a substance that
 is an EPA-classified probable carcinogen.(6) The pesticide industry also
 implies that "organic" means safe and natural (for example, "Nature's
 Lawn"), knowing that the term legally may be applied to any compound
 containing carbon and hydrogen. ChemLawn and other lawn "care" companies
 and manufacturers have often been sued for fictitious claims.(5-14) Many
 applicators are just as conniving and deceitful, using statements like
 "absolutely cannot harm children or pets" and "perfectly safe for the
 environment" to mislead the public. The New York State Attorney General s
 Office sued Dow Elanco chemical company when they claimed that Dursban
 shows "no evidence of significant risk to the environment" when right on
 the label is stated "this pesticide is toxic to birds and extremely toxic
 to fish and aquatic organisms".(15) A few years later on May 2, 1995, the
 EPA fined Dow Elanco for "failing to report to the Agency information on
 adverse health effects (to humans) over the past decade involving a number
 of pesticides, including chlorpyrifos (brand name Dursban)". Most of the
 information came from personal injury claims against Dow Elanco which the
 company had hidden from the EPA. Now it is even being found that
 chlorpyrifos causes multiple sclerosis.(38)
 
 Some companies have even made claims that their products better the
 environment. "Funk" lawn care of New York has coined the phrase "Growing A
 Better Environment" in order to fool consumers into believing lawn
 chemicals pose no ecological harm. Another states "a 50-by-50 foot lawn
 produces enough oxygen to sustain a family of four." But this is only true
 with a plot of land that has tall grass and no lawn care. Pesticides,
 lawnmower fumes and common lawn care practices actually create a net
 destruction of oxygen.(16)
 
 The United States General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of
 Congress, has also tried to alert the public to lawn chemical dangers.
 GAO's undercover team noted many fictitious claims by many in the lawn
 "care" industry.(35) Many included illegal claims of product safety. Others
 were just deceiving, such as the ChemLawn claim that a child would have to
 ingest ten cups of treated grass clippings to equal the toxicity of one
 baby aspirin. In fact, the real danger is not that people will be grazing
 the lawn but that most poisonings come from inhaling pesticide residues or
 absorbing them through the skin.(6,7,10)
 
 Most do-it-yourselfers are just as ignorant when it comes to proper
 protection and safety precautions. Studies show most don't even look at the
 warnings on their toxins. They don't wear gloves, goggles, or protective
 clothing to decrease exposure. Worse, many don't keep people off the
 contaminated area after chemicals are applied. Homeowners commonly use up
 to ten times as much pesticides per acre as farmers.(7,17) A Virginia Tech
 study for the state legislature found that most homeowners have no idea how
 much nitrogen they use when fertilizing and that they apply chemicals in
 ways that damage water supplies.(18)
 
 Pesticides drift and settle during application. In the Antarctic ice pack
 alone there are 2.4 million pounds of DDT and its metabolites from years
 past.(26) Pesticides engulf the home and are easily tracked inside, readily
 inhaled and absorbed through the skin. They do harm by attacking the
 central nervous system and other essential organs. Symptoms of pesticide
 poisoning are often deceptively simple, commonly mis-diagnosed as flu or
 allergies. They include, but are not limited to, headaches, nausea, fever,
 breathing difficulties, seizures, eye pains, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea,
 sore nose, tongue, or throat; burning skin, rashes, coughing, muscle pain,
 tissue swelling, blurred vision, numbness and tingling in hands or feet,
 incontinence, anxiety, irritability, sleep disorders, hyperactivity,
 fatigue, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, spontaneous
 bleeding, and temporary paralysis. Long-term consequences include lowered
 fertility, 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. The National Academy of Sciences reports that at least one out
 of seven people are significantly harmed by pesticide exposure each
 year.(3) Increasingly, reports from many people around the country are
 "beginning to link feeling terrible with the fact the neighbors had the
 lawn sprayed the day before", notes Catherine Karr, a toxicologist for the
 National Coalition Against The Misuse Of Pesticides.(7) Unfortunately,
 except for industrial accidents, tests for pesticide poisoning are rarely
 performed, partially because they are expensive. Doctors also attribute
 them to stress, allergies, influenza, or an overactive imagination.(3)
 
 Many Americans are developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), a
 bizarre and extremely disabling condition. In 1979, the Surgeon General
 issued a report stating "There is virtually no major chronic disease to
 which environmental factors do not contribute, directly or indirectly."
 Indeed, people today are exposed to synthetic chemicals at levels unmatched
 at any time throughout human history. Washington Post staff writer Michael
 Weiskopf noted in a February 10, 1990 article that "hypersensitivity to low
 levels of toxic chemicals (MCS) is a serious and growing medical problem,
 threatening to cause significant economic consequences by disabling large
 numbers of otherwise healthy people." MCS is a result of the destruction of
 the body's ability to tolerate and synthesize chemicals after exposure to
 toxic substances. Victims develop extreme reactions now not only to lawn
 pesticides but also hair sprays, perfumes, soaps, formaldehyde, and many
 other common household products.(5,36) Many victims include former lawn
 pesticide applicators and users, their families, and children.
 
 Sharon Malhorta, a registered nurse from Pittsburgh, would get so sick from
 lawn and tree spraying that she had to leave her home every spring.
 Otherwise she would suffer headaches, paralysis in her hands and feet, and
 muscle seizures. Repeated exposure caused blurred vision, speech
 difficulties, and severe stomach cramps. Her husband, a doctor, suspected
 early on her symptoms were the result of nerve damage from
 organophosphates, which are widely used nerve-gas type insecticides, like
 Diazinon. After questioning lawn companies about their products he was told
 they were "practically nontoxic", registered by the EPA, and not harmful to
 people or pets. He later discovered that the chemicals his wife was exposed
 to were in fact neurotoxins, and was shocked to discover there were
 surprisingly few EPA studies on their health effects.(19)
 
 Karen James, a Michigan postal worker, successfully sued ChemLawn in 1988.
 While walking past one of their trucks, a hose ruptured and she was
 drenched with chemicals. The employee told her not to worry, that only
 fertilizers were in the spray. But soon after she became seriously ill, and
 her eyes and skin burned. When her symptoms of fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea,
 and reduced vision didn't clear up, her doctor called ChemLawn to find out
 what chemicals she had been exposed to. He was told no pesticides had been
 involved, but after tests on Karen s body tissue detected high levels of
 Dursban, ChemLawn admitted the truck contained pesticides. Many other suits
 against lawn companies are settled out of court. Frequently the settlement
 restrains the victim from talking about the incident, so the public is not
 informed.(19)
 
 For the price of green lawns, children are also being poisoned. In 1985 a
 married couple in Sarasota, Florida, felt pressured by their neighbors to
 get their lawn treated. They hired a company, never thinking their
 2-year-old daughter would be jeopardized. The company declared the yard
 would be safe about an hour after the chemicals were applied. However, soon
 after playing barefoot on the grass, the couple's daughter developed a rash
 all over her body, her urine turned dark brown, and she ran a high fever.
 Her doctor prescribed antibiotics, but her condition grew steadily worse.
 Her hands and feet swelled to twice normal size, blistered, and peeled. Her
 lips turned black and bled. Years later she is still permanently prone to
 headaches and has 40% hearing loss in her right ear.(19)
 
 Barry and Jackie Veysey believe lawn chemicals were responsible for the
 death of their baby son. Barry was a professional turf master, and the
 chemicals he worked with may have mutated his sperm or poisoned the infant
 in utero. Every time Jackie washed her husband's uniforms, the chemicals
 may have been absorbed through her skin and permeated the placenta. The
 child was born with a severe and fatal type of dwarfism. Jackie held her
 son only once before he died due to massive failure of his underdeveloped
 organs.(19)
 
 Kevin Ryan from Arlington Heights, Illinois, feels like a prisoner in his
 home. "I can't even play in my own yard because the neighbors spray their
 lawns and trees", he says. Kevin suffered routine chemical exposure as a
 toddler from lawn spraying, and now suffers nausea, irritability, fatigue,
 and loss of memory whenever pesticides are nearby. His family moves to
 Colorado every spring and fall, the peak spraying times of the year, to
 keep him safe.(19,20)
 
 In 1986, Robin Dudek of Hamburg, New York pulled the garden hose off her
 lawn and used it to fill a wading pool for her daughters Amanda, 3, and
 Kristen, 2. Earlier her lawn had been sprayed with chemicals. When Amanda
 started drinking from the hose, she began to scream that the water was
 burning her. Then Kristen began crying and screaming as well. Robin took
 the children inside and noticed burn marks on both of them, as well as the
 smell of chemicals on Amanda's breath. The girls later suffered from
 fevers, swollen eyes, and blisters the size of grape clusters around their
 necks.(19)
 
 Christina Locek was a professional ice skater and pianist before her health
 was destroyed in 1985, when her neighbor s lawn was sprayed with
 pesticides. Her cat and dog died that same day, and she suffers headaches,
 partial paralysis, vision loss, and blood disorders.(21) Former Navy
 Lieutenant George Prior developed a fever, headache, and nausea after
 playing on a golf course treated with Daconil. It was later discovered he
 was suffering from toxicepidermal necrolysis, which causes skin to fall off
 in sheets and massive organ failure. Prior died soon after.(6,8)
 
 According to the EPA, 95% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are
 possible or probable carcinogens.(3,22) In 1989 the National Cancer
 Institute reported children develop leukemia six times more often when
 pesticides are used around their homes.(3,22) The American Journal of
 Epidemiology found that more children with brain tumors and other cancers
 had been exposed to insecticides than children without.(3) Studies by the
 National Cancer Society and other medical researchers have discovered a
 definite link between fatal non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) and exposure to
 triazine herbicides (like Atrazine), phenoxyacetic herbicides (2,4-D),
 organophosphate insecticides (Diazinon), fungicides, and fumigants; all of
 which have uses as lawn chemicals. This may be an important contributing
 factor to the 50% rise in NHL over the past ten years in the American
 population. Studies of farmers who once used these pesticides found
 alarmingly high numbers of NHL, especially in those who didn't wear
 protective clothing. This latest finding also proves the theory that most
 danger from pesticides comes through dermal absorption, not ingestion.(23)
 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.(4) Other experts are beginning to link golfers, and non-golfers
 who live near fairways, with these same problems.(8,24)
 
 Documented cases of pesticides in groundwater wells are suspect for cancer
 clusters showing in many towns. In 1989, drinking water in at least 38
 states was known to be contaminated.(3) After the herbicide Dacthal was
 applied to Long Island golf courses, it was detected in drinking water
 wells at levels twenty times the State's safety limits. The water also
 contained a dioxin that is a highly toxic by-product of Dacthal(8,19). The
 New York State Attorney General sued the manufacturer in 1989 to
 investigate the contamination and develop a treatment program, since ground
 water is the main source of drinking water for Long Island. Twenty-two
 other pesticides have been found in the water so far. However, there is
 still no requirement or systematic program designed to test for drinking
 water contamination.(3,25) As Michael Surgan, Ph.D., Chief Environmental
 Scientist for the New York State Attorney General, and an advocate for
 responsible pesticide use, puts it, "If you buy the notion that we have to
 accept a certain amount of risk from pesticides to safeguard the food
 supply, that's one thing, he notes. But with lawns, people are applying
 carcinogens simply for the sake of aesthetics. That's got to change".(4)
 
 Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are becoming some of the worst water
 pollutants in America. Discharges into San Francisco Bay from the central
 valley of California are estimated at almost two tons per year.(26)
 Phosphorous levels in some Maryland streams have doubled since 1986. And an
 EPA study found potentially harmful levels of nitrate from chemical
 fertilizers in drinking water wells nationwide. This can cause blue-baby
 syndrome , an oxygen-depriving condition in infants that can be fatal.(18)
 Environmental impacts are also devastating. Ward Stone, a DEC wildlife
 pathologist, has long studied bird kills from pesticides that were used
 according to regulation. Documented cases of owls, mourning doves,
 sparrows, blue birds, and many other songbirds killed by lawn chemicals are
 on the rise. Waterfowl like Canadian geese, mallards, wood ducks, and
 others have suffered even worse. In 1984 there were 700 brant found dead on
 a Long Island country club after it was sprayed with Diazinon.(8,27)
 Pesticide exposure causes shivering, excessive salivating, grand mal
 seizures, wild flapping, and sometimes screaming according to U.S. Fish and
 Wildlife Service volunteer Diana Conger. Ward Stone likens these birds to
 miners' canaries, foreshadowing serious harm to humans from chemical
 build-up in the environment.(28)
 
 Most people seriously overestimate the amount of protection given them by
 governments regarding pesticide safety. Congress found that 90% of the
 pesticides on the market lack even minimal required safety screening.(3) Of
 the 34 most used lawn pesticides, 33 have not been fully tested for human
 health hazards.(4) If any tests are done, they are performed by the
 chemical manufacturers, not the EPA. "If a chemical company wanted to, they
 could start with a desired conclusion, and skew the data, and the EPA would
 never know", notes David Welch, an entomologist with the EPA's Office of
 Pesticide Programs. Welch did a random sampling of 15 pesticide files and
 found 13 without proper reviews.(19) One third of the most commonly used
 lawn pesticides were illegally registered for use. Despite the fact
 executives of Industrial Bio- Test labs were given jail terms for faking
 pesticides tests, the chemicals are still on the market.(3) Shortages in
 funding, personnel, and interference from business has slowed re-evaluation
 of these chemicals.(25) Even when the EPA does refuse a pesticide
 registration, the manufacturer often files a lawsuit, which keeps the
 chemical on the market.(19) Jay Feldman, coordinator of the National
 Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, is well aware of this. "The EPA
 should be called the IPA- the Industry Protection Agency", he charges. The
 chemical industry is extremely powerful, and wraps the EPA in red tape. It
 is also essential to understand that by law pesticide registration in the
 U.S.A. is not a consumer safety program.(9) According to Congress, the EPA
 does not have testing and assessment guidelines specifically for lawn
 use.(25) EPA has admitted in court that pesticide registration does not
 ensure product safety. Rather, it is a balancing act of costs and
 risks.(1-5,7-9,15,22) Most lawn pesticides were registered before 1972,
 when more stringent restrictions took effect under the revised Federal
 Rodenticide and Fungicide Act. They were never tested for many human health
 hazards like carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, and environmental dangers.
 Most, as previously stated, have yet to be re-evaluated, yet remain on the
 market.
 
 Read the labels on many lawn pesticide products, sprayed by lawn companies
 or sold in stores, and you will find one or more of the following: 2,4-D,
 Captan, Diazinon, Dursban, Dacthal, Dicamba, and Mecocrop. Each was
 registered without full safety screening. 2,4-D is an artificial hormone
 that has become a synonym for "dangerous pesticide", but dermal absorption
 of mecoprop is far more dangerous, and dicamba is much more persistent in
 the environment - a mixture of these three is usually used, not 2,4-D
 alone. Diazinon has been banned for use on golf courses and sod farms due
 to massive waterfowl deaths but is still widely used on lawns and gardens.
 It is an organophosphate which disables the nervous system by blocking
 enzymes essential for nerve impulse transmission.
 
 People can protect themselves and their families by knowing the facts. If
 having grass that looks more like Astroturf than living plants still seems
 essential, it doesn't have to come with pesticides but is possible with
 products or programs that are organic and natural. This list of
 alternatives continues to grow, and they are safer, cheaper, and often work
 better than pesticides.(3,5) Ringer Corporation vice president Fred Hunt
 markets natural fertilizers and microbes that kill pests. "We just don't
 think a lot of these chemicals are necessary for aesthetic use on
 homeowners' lawns", he reveals.(7) Chemicals add salt to the soil and kill
 beneficial nitrogen-fixing microorganisms that provide necessary nutrients
 for grass, turning a lawn into a junkie.(29) Each quick fix of green
 creates a dependence for the next. Synthetic fertilizers kill earthworms
 and other organisms that aerate soil, causing it to compact and kill grass
 plants. Inorganic nitrogen-based fertilizers also promote the sprouting of
 weeds.(30) Compounds in chemical fertilizers also acidify the soil and aid
 in breeding of some insects. Lawns need a soil pH between 5.6 and 7 or else
 they turn pale and thin out. Additional doses of chemicals will only make
 matters worse.(31,32) Recycling grass clippings saves money, reduces waste,
 and according to Lawn Institute Director Eliot C. Roberts is equivalent to
 three applications of fertilizer a year without unhealthy chemicals and
 their side-effects. Natural fertilizers are also better because they are
 time released, allowing grass to grow slower and tougher, requiring much
 less care.
 
 Insects have been best controlled by other insects for millions of years,
 and the lawn is no exception. Insecticides often kill more beneficial
 insects than problem ones. Once the natural balance is destroyed, continued
 reliance on insecticides will occur. This is also true of weed killers.
 When a crabgrass stand is killed with an herbicide, there will still be
 thousands of seeds ready to start anew.(31) In the long run, pesticides can
 actually help the very pests they target by also killing their predators,
 and their use becomes self-perpetuating. Until a natural balance is
 restored, more and more will have to be spent each year on chemicals, and
 resistant pests may also invade. Using alternative strategies will bring
 better results and be kinder to the environment. Integrated Pest Management
 gives simple, long-lasting solutions which require no chemicals, much less
 money, and much less time and effort. Many alternatives not explored here
 can be found in the books and articles listed at the end of this report.
 
 What makes a plant a "weed" is often only a matter of opinion. For
 instance, it was once a sign of prestige to have clover in a lawn. Their
 flowers and silky green leaves were once prized by homeowners, as was their
 natural production of nitrogen fertiliser, and clover seed was sold by the
 bushels, alone or mixed with grass seed. It wasn't until a chemical company
 discovered a pesticide that killed clover but not always grass and launched
 an enormous advertising campaign that clover became no longer fashionable.
 As a result, people today ignore its fine qualities, even though throughout
 the 1950s it was "common as bluegrass".(33)
 
 A growing list of over 9,000 Americans are participating in the National
 Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. By growing tall
 grasses, they attract a dazzling array of wildflowers, butterflies, and
 birds, creating habitats that are the aesthetic match of any manicured
 lawn. Suggestions on what to plant to best attract wildlife can be obtained
 from the Fish & Game Department of any state in the country.(34)
 
 The lawn pesticide industry is a very recent creation by chemical firms to
 expand the market for aging farm chemicals. These products are not
 necessary for use on lawns and pose serious ecological and human health
 risks that outweigh any benefits they offer. Integrated Pest Management
 strategies offer alternatives that work better and have less harmful
 effects. Proper legislation to protect the public regarding pesticide use
 is still seriously insufficient.(35) Therefore, the responsibility rests on
 the public to be the ultimate judge of what the acceptable levels of risk
 will be for their families and environment.(4)
 
 References:
 
1.New York State Attorney General's Office. "The Secret Hazards Of Lawn
 Pesticides: Inert Ingredients." New York State Department Of Law, 1994.
2.New York State Attorney General's Office. "Pesticides In The Schools: Reducing The Risks."
New York State Department Of Law, 1994.
3."Lawn Chemical Dangers." American Defender Network, 1989.
4.Davidson, Osha Gray. "Pesticides: The Killing Fields." Woman s Day 20 September 1994.
5.The S.T.A.T.E. Foundation (Sensitive To A Toxic Environment), 4 Hazel Court, West Seneca, NY 14224.
6.Begley, Sharon & Hager, Mary. "Please Don't Eat The Daisies." Newsweek 16 May 1988.
7.Stevens, William K. "Public Said To Disregard Dangers Of Manicuring The Greensward." The New York Times 17
 September 1990.
8.New York State Attorney General's Office. "Toxic Fairways: Risking Groundwater Contamination From Long Island Golf Courses." New York State Department Of Law, 1990.
9.New York State Attorney General's Office. "Lawn Care Pesticides And Safety: What You Should Know". New York
 State Department Of Law, 1994.
10.Meier, Barry. "Lawn Care Concern Says It Will Limit Safety Claims." The New York Times 30 June 1990.
11.United States Environmental Protection Agency Pesticide Information Network.
12.gopher@earth1. The United States Environmental Protection Agency Internet Server. EPA WAIS Gateway.
13.fedworld.gov. The United States Government Internet Database.
14.www.whitehouse.gov. The White House WWW
 Server. Executive Branch.
15.Raver, Anne. "Fertilizing Your Lawn? Look Before You Leap." The New York Times 24 April 1994.
16.Fischer, Aldeheid. "Grass Is Not Always Greener: Reasons Not To Love Lawns." Utne Reader
 September/October 1990.
17.New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation, Pest Control.
18.Cohn, D Vera. "The Chemical Quest For The Perfect Lawn: Pesticide, Fertilizer Runoff Ending Up In Area's Water
 Supply." The Washington Post 28 April 1991.
19.Sayan, Kathyrne. "The Pesticide Scandal." Family Circle 2 April 1991.
20.Associated Press. "Lawn Care Chemicals Raise Health Concerns: GAO Faults EPA On Commercial Regulation." The Washington Post 31 May 1990.
21.Skow, John. "Can Lawns Be Justified?" TIME Magazine 3 June 1991.
22."Warning: The Use Of Pesticides May Be Hazardous To Your Health". American Cancer Society, Erie County Branch.
23.Zahm, Sheila and Aaron Blair. "Pesticides and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma." Cancer Research 1 October 1992.
24.Associated Press. "Lawn Herbicide Called Cancer Risk For Dogs." The New York Times 4 September, 1991.
25.United States Congress General Accounting Office. "Lawn Care Pesticides: Reregistration Falls Further Behind and Exposure Effects Are Uncertain." GAO/RCED-93-80, Washington, DC: April 1993.
26.Rudd, Robert C. "Pesticides." Encyclopedia Americana 1990.
27.Hershenson, Roberta. "Study Finds Use of Some 'Safe' Pesticides Harmful." The New York Times 14 April, 1985.
28.Levy, Claudia. "Pretty Lawns May Be Lethal For Songbirds:  Pesticides Blamed For Toll On Wildlife." The Washington Post 28 April 1991.
29.Polk, Nancy. "The Perfect Lawn Isn't Always Green." The New York Times 17 October 1990.
30.Findlay, Steven & Terry Thompson. "Watch That Weed Killer." US News & World Report 16 September 1991.
31.Henkenius, Merle & Eugene Thompson. "Natural Lawn Care." Popular Mechanics July 1993.
32."The Green Way To A Green Lawn." Consumer Reports June 1990.
33.Schultz, W. "The Chemical Free Lawn." Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1989.
34.Glastris, Kukula. "Letting The Lawn Run Wild." US News & World Report 27 August 1990.
35.United States General Accounting Office. "Lawn Care Pesticides: Risks
 Remain Uncertain While Prohibited Safety Claims Continue." GAO/RCED-90-134. Washington, DC: March 1990.
36.Bartle, Hazel. "Quiet Sufferers of the Silent Spring". New Scientist 18 May 1991.
37.International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes. "Selected Persistent Toxic Substances in Human Breast Milk in the Great Lakes Basin". March 1990.
38.Arch.Env.Health, 48:89 (1993)
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 Joyce Shepard, CSW
 Citizens' Action Committee for Change
 E-Mail: [email protected]
 Telephone: 718-279-2069
 Facsimile: 718-279-3281