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The difference of opinion between fully organic/nonorganic growers is
not really winable for either postion. Sort of like the
Israeli/Palestinian dispute. It just goes on and on.
But I am fairly well satisfied that 2,4-D, in the way that I use it,
presents no health threats to humans nor does it degrade the
environment. I use it as a spot-spray, and do not carpet the lawn with
herbicide/fertilizer mix, nor do I spray it indiscriminately on the
grass. I have a 150 foot deep well, and the only thing that has shown
up in tests is a slightly elevated level of nitrates. I also have two
fish ponds, containing frogs and, in the spring, breeding toads. I
occasionally spray weeds around the ponds, and have never lost a fish
or amphibian. And these are very sensitive creatures.
Studies I have been able to access on the web indicate that 2,4-D has a
half-life of seven days, rarely penetrates deeper than six inches in the
soil, and breaks down into carbon, carbon dioxide, and chlorine. Yes,
chlorine, the active ingredient in bleach. There is no evidence that
2,4-D is carcinogenic, or that it is metabolized by the body. That is
good enough for me. Given the fact that poison ivy is such nasty stuff,
that most of us are not immune to it, and it is so hard to kill, if
there was ever a case that justifies use of 2,4-D, PI is it.
Rgds, Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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