.(text of January 26, 2005 Indymedia article by East Bay Pesticide Alert)
Join East Bay Pesticide Alert and Stop Toxic Trespass to demand non-toxic methods only. Wednesday, January 26, 2005, at Oakland City Hall (12th and Broadway, right by 12th St. BART), in Hearing Room 4, at 7 pm.
Oakland is being pressured to use pesticides on city-owned property in the wildfire prevention district. Many do not understand that pesticides sicken and even kill.
Monsanto (with UC contracts) has confused people for years. They talk about the active0 ingredient of Roundup but not the detrimental effects of inerts, which donít have to be disclosed or tested before registration. A surfactant added to Roundup, (POEA), is contaminated by 1,4 dioxane during manufacturing. It is a carcinogen, under Prop. 65. Formaldehyde is a breakdown product of the active ingredient, Glyphosate. Both Glyphosate and Triclopyr (active ingredient in Garlon 4) inhibit the work of mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants with nutrient uptake. Roundup is associated with skin; eye; systemic and acute respiratory illnesses; inhibiting detoxification of chemicals in the body; possible adverse cancer effects; tumors; causes gene mutations; is a reproductive toxicant; is toxic to fish and aquatic organisms; inhibits mycorrhizal fungi; is highly persistent in soil. Garlon 4 is associated with weakness; decreased coordination; respiratory problems; tremors; kidney damage, decreased hemoglobin, fewer red blood cells, and liver damage in rats; reproductive problems including skeletal deformities; tadpoles lose their avoidance response needed to escape prey; toxicity to beneficial spider mites; Triclopyr-treated trees about twice as likely as untreated trees to be damaged by the tip moth whose damage increases risk for fusiform rust, a pine disease; genetic damage to plants; inhibiting mycorrhizal fungi; reduction in moss and lichen diversity; EPA calls it very mobile in soil, with the potential to leach into groundwater (lack of studies comes into play, often the case); contaminates rivers and streams (USGS study of urban watersheds near Seattle, found Triclopyr in 90 percent of the sites sampled); the breakdown product TCP especially hazardous to kids inhibiting neurons from normal growth and disrupts mitochondria. Imazapyr, the active ingredient in the product Stalker, is corrosive to eyes and can cause irreversible damage; it causes skin problems; in lab studies fluids found in lungs, kidney cysts, abnormal blood formation in the spleen, and increases in thyroid and brain cancers, and increased tumors and cancers of the adrenal gland; a study showed it to be more mobile in soil than Atrazine (water contaminant). Remember suppression of UC Prof. Tyrone Hayesí research regarding Atrazine and toxicity to frogs? In ’92, EPA found that Glyphosate leaches. And EPA has found Triclopyr in wells. Imazapyr, active ingredient in the product, Stalker, is highly persistent in soil, and leaches. In fact, it is slow-acting, with suggestions that you may have to wait up to two years to cut down trees. Leaching threatens endangered plants and animals nearby. Mixing products creates synergism and can cause deadly effects as toxicity is potentiated.
We are living in the middle of a public health crisis already. Lives are at stake. Join East Bay Pesticide Alert and Stop Toxic Trespass to demand non-toxic methods only. Wednesday, January 26, 2005, at Oakland City Hall (12th and Broadway, right by 12th St. BART), in Hearing Room 4, at 7 pm.
Maxina Ventura of East Bay Pesticide Alert