I got a lot of interesting feedback on this Atrazine threatens public health like another Agent Orange column from last Sunday. At last count, 10 web sites picked it up. Among the emails I received, this one from a reader (whose identity I’m protecting) was the most interesting…and controversial.
So, how about it fellow Humboldters? Were you aware that Atrazine and other nasty chemicals (see list below) were/are being used here? Why hasn’t this raised anyone’s hackles? What’s up? Is this an issue the mainstream press up here wants to avoid? Hmmmmm….anyone?
“Hello Dave,
Are you aware that Green Diamond is spraying Atrazine, Imazapyr and 2,4D (actual AO component) in our watersheds, according to the recent Econews. Green Diamond clearcut logs broad swaths of the Mad River watershed, the source of our drinking water.
And that PL sprayed 7000 gal (or lbs) of Atrazine in 2008 in the lower Eel, before they fled in bankruptcy, according to CATS?
Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor according to professor Tyrone Hayes, who was booted from the manufacturer's Atrazine review committee because he proved that vanishingly small concentrations feminized frogs (30 X below that allowed by EPA for drinking water and 120 X lower than the 12 ppb threshold for aquatic life). Atrazine drifts, persists in water from 167 days to 31 years, and contaminates rainwater as well as ground and surface waters. It is banned in many countries.
Imazapyr is super-potent (meaning miniscule, virtually undetectable, concentrations interrupt plant development), with a neurotoxic breakdown product, which can cause a disease resembling Huntington's chorea, (which killed Woody Guthrie), and a host of other bad effects in a variety of species.
2,4D is one part of AO, is highly water-soluble, can last over 5 years in clay soils, crosses the blood-brain and placental barriers, is absorbed through the skin, can cause birth defects and lymphoma, feminizes many species, affects various endocrine organs, and is contaminated with dioxin.
There has been no effective monitoring for these or their toxic breakdown products.
Green Diamond has no business using any of these in our watersheds.
Thanks for your article.”
In addition:
Humboldt County 2008
Atrazine ... 8,449 pounds
2,4-D, ISOOCTYL ESTER ... 3,912 : THE MOST WATER SOLUBLE
Imazapyr ... 2,497
TRICLOPYR, BUTOXYETHYL ESTER ... 4,705
Also, under "outdoor flowers":
CHLOROPICRIN 3,675
CHLOROTHALONIL 1,158
1,3-DICHLOROPROPENE 6,471
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