North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

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• From: Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>
• To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.com
• Subject: PI and Herbicides
• Date: Thu, 02 May 2002 20:47:55 -0400

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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