According to the EPA , American homeowner dump 90 million pounds ofherbicides , fertilizers , andpesticideson their lawns each year in the eternal quest for riotous , green greensward .
That ’s a bombardment of chemicals interacting with soil , waterway , wildlife , pets , and you .
How dangerous are lawn fertilizers?
Homeowners shopping for lawn care product are lull into a false sense of prophylactic every leaping . These chemical , some of which are quite poisonous , are sold at home centers , grocery depot , convenience store , nursery centers , and just about any entrepot you visit in spring and declivity . We ’re led to think that if they place a danger to our wellness if they were potentially toxic , there would be a skull and crossbones and a huge warning on the recording label . Unfortunately , any monition about the dangers of these chemicals are immerse in very fine photographic print on the grip .
Let ’s take one of the most popularlawn fertilizersas an example : Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Fertilizer . Here ’s an selection from the cross-file information on the Household Products database on the National Institutes Of Health website ( an official limb of the U.S. government ) .
How dangerous are lawn pesticides?
Wow . That ’s just one fertilizer – now let ’s wait at a popular weed killer used for grass ascendancy : Vigoro Ultra Turf Weed And Feed : The active ingredient in this and many herbicides is a nasty ingredient known as “ 2,4 - D ” , whose chemical substance name is2,4 - Dichlorophenyloxy acetic acid , one of the key ingredients inAgent Orange . Once again , on the NIH web site ( Human Health Effects From Hazardous Substances databank ) , you ’ll come up reports offatigue , anorexia , weakness , sickness , vomit , diarrhea , grand mal convulsion , lethargy progressing to comatoseness , reform-minded decline in blood pressure sensation … should I go on ?
What you ’re pouring on your lawn every twelvemonth are chemical , with a heavy “ C ” . You risk not only your own health but the health of the child , pets , and wildlife that work on your lawn .
How to get a green lawn without chemicals
“ But I want a green lawn ! ” , you protest . Hey that ’s nerveless , so do I ! Green lawns existed long before these chemicals became democratic post WW2 . Here are hypnotism on how to keep your lawn green without chemical :
assistant of non - constitutional chemical agriculture will say that the U.S. government has determined “ safe and satisfactory ” pic levels for all of the chemicals in fertilizers , pesticides and herbicide . The government rule of thumb say that exposure to these chemical when implement accord to the parcel directions do not pose risk of exposure .
But they have n’t reckon multiple exposures to the thing we encounter every day : the combining of weedkiller , pesticide , and nutrient chain residuum , which is call bioaccumulation .
These “ secure and acceptable ” level issue have been ferociously debated by scientists worldwide . The only “ safe ” exposure is no photograph at all .
More Resources : Scientific American : How Fertilizers Harm Earth More Than facilitate Your Lawn;Environment And Human Health , INC
