On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 14:01:47 -0400, "lbbs" wrote:
I spray killex on my law. It killed all the weed but did not phase the
Blackseed plantain. Any idea why that would be?
Subject: KILLEX LABELING CALLED "CRIMINALLY DECEPTIVE"
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 17:22:00 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten
Organization: Get Set Inc. (
www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Carol Browner
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article
entitled: KILLEX LABELING CALLED "CRIMINALLY DECEPTIVE" - VICTORIA MAN
WANTS MONSANTO PRODUCT RECALLED - Bernard Frazer - December 23, 2000.
The controversial herbicide, Killex is on the chopping block again.
Victoria man, Ingmar Lee is on a crusade to have the weed killer
pulled from retail shelves. His plight is not based on the toxins
'inside' of the product, but the cunningly concealed warning labels on
the 'outside'.
"I have now shown (KILLEX) to many people and asked them to carefully
inspect the labeling for any health warnings, including the entire
Victoria City Council, and not one person was able to locate (a Health
Warning Label)."
He contends that, without clear warning labels, consumers may not
realize the serious health threats posed by exposure to the product,
especially among children. A good many scientists and doctors would
agree.
Arguably the most widely used herbicide in Canada, Killex employs the
active ingredient 2,4-D, a chemical that is the subject of
considerable health concern. In recent studies, 2,4-D exposure has
been linked with soft tissue sarcomas, including non-Hogkin's lymphoma
(see references below). So it comes as no surprise that a groundswell
of public support to ban 'cosmetic-use' pesticides, like Killex, has
swept across the country.
The question in Lee's mind is, how many children have been unwittingly
exposed to the toxin as a result of profoundly insufficient labeling?
A child's exposure can be as simple as playing on a recently treated
lawn. If Dad doesn't see a warning label, he may not realize that a
child's physical contact with the pesticide, days or even weeks after
it's application, might result in a parent's worst nightmare.
In a letter to Pest Management Regulatory Agency Executive Director,
Claire Franklin, Lee points to the May 16, 2000 report "Pesticides,
Making the Right Choice for the Protection of Health and the
Environment" (by House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment
and Sustainable Development). The 200 plus page document refers to a
litany of studies demonstrating grave health risks from pesticide
exposure, including 2,4-D. He refers to its assertion that children
are particularly vulnerable, especially to those products used in and
outside of the home.
Lee writes:
"I carefully inspected the labeling (of "Ready to Use Killex"
Reg.#18,295 and "Concentrated Killex" Reg.# 9,350) for the health
warnings, which after reading (this report), I expected to find front
and centre. To my amazement, there were no visible health warnings to
be seen on the labeling, and, even the word "herbicide" was only
mentioned on the French side."
In fact, the warnings are not 'on' the labels at all. If one is able
to read "microscopic fine print", it would direct you to 'peel back'
the rear label for further information... that is, as Lee suggests, if
you can get it off.
He calls this "Criminally Deceptive" and therefore demands an
"Immediate nationwide recall of all Monsanto products which carry this
kind of labeling".
Franklin agrees that the labeling requires improvement but, in a
response to Lee, she only eludes to steps being "underway to improve
this (problem)...".
The lack of clear and direct action angers him. In a final missive,
Lee holds Franklin personally responsible for any health
ramifications:
"In choosing not to take immediate action you personally, as Executive
Director of the (PMRA), are abusing your responsibility and risking
the health and safety of Canadian children."
As he continues to hammer away at the Feds, Lee asks Canadians to be
aware of the real hazards posed by improper storage or insufficient
safeguards when applying Killex. He also urges homeowners to consider
the myriad of "organic alternatives" to using pesticides. After all,
you may be saving a child's life.
-Bernard Frazer www.caps.20m.com
REFERENCES
Leiss, Savitz. Home Pesticide Use and Childhood Cancer. 1995 American
Journal of Public Health 85:249-252
Hoar SK, Blair Aeal. Agricultural herbicide use and risk of lymphoma
and soft-tissue sarcoma. Journal of the American Medical Association
1986; 256:1141-1147.
Hoar ZS, Blair A, Holmes FF, Boysen CD, Robel RJ. A case referent
study of soft-tissue sarcoma and Hodgkin's disease: farming and
insecticide use. Scand J Work Environ Health 1988; 14:224-230.
Hoar ZS, Weisenburger DD, Babbitt PA, Saal RC, Vaught JB, Cantor KPea.
A case-control study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the herbicide 2,4 -
dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in eastern Nebraska. Epidemiology
1990; 1:349-356.
Persson B, Dahlander AM, Fredriksson M, Brage HN, Ohlson CG, Aselson
O. Malignant lymphomas and occupational exposure. Br J Ind Med 1989;
46:515-520.
Wigle DT, Semenciw RM, et al.. Mortality study of Canadian male farm
operators: non-Hodgkins's lymphoma and mortality and agricultural
practices in Saskatchewan. Journal of the National Cancer Institute
1990; 82:575-582.
Woods
JS, Polissar L, Severson RK, Heuser LS, Kulander BG. Soft tissue
sarcoma and non-hodgkin's lymphoma in relation to phenoxyherbicide and
chlorinated phenol exposure in western Washington. Journal of the
National Cancer Institute 1987; 78:899-910.
Ritter L, For the Ad Hoc Panel on Pesticides and Cancer. Report of a
Panel on the Relationship between Public Exposure to Pesticides and
Cancer. Cancer 1997; 80:2019-2033.
"Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets,
but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how.
To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet;
one need only own a good shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules,
any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree--and there will be one"
Aldo Leopold
08-10-2003, 07:02 PM
Killex could not kill Broadleaf plantain?
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