Hi All,

Steve Tvedten has this page on this important federal law about SAFETY OF PESTICIDES that everyone needs to know. You will often see chemical industry operatives ... particularly those from the pesticide industry write and/or or say in their media contacts or on the web that their products are safe if used as directed. Of course, we all know that these products were designed to function as biocides and that they are NOT safe for the creatures they were designed to kill .. which suggests that they MAY be more TOXIC than safe for humans. They weren't SAFE for me. Take care,

Don Richard Paladin (Sunergos@juno.com)
Bellingham WA
WSMCSN new hompage at http://wsmcsn.homestead.com/index.html

Hi Steve,

I thought you might like to read what David Ortman, an environmental activist in Seattle who has been fighting the state EPA and Ecology over the aerial spraying of Rodeo, has to say about the safety regulation of pesticides on labels.

Take care, Don

FR: David E. Ortman Seattle, WA

It is NOT necessarily illegal to say or write that pesticides are Safe.

Please note that the CFR reference applies ONLY to pesticide labels, not to advertising or press releases which is where most false claims of "pesticide safety" are made.

However, pesticide pushers such as Monsanto have been taken to court (e.g. On 25 November 1996 the Attorney General of the State of New York obtained a settlement with Monsanto preventing them from making health and environmental claims that "Roundup" [Rodeo + surfactant] is safe), but not under this CFR.

There is another problem with pesticide labels, namely that EPA does not consider all statements on pesticide labels to be mandatory or a requirement.

For example, the Rodeo label states: "Do not allow the herbicide solution to mist, drip, drift, or splash onto desirable vegetation. . .The likelihood of plant or crop injury occuring from the use of this product is greatest when winds are gusty or in excess of 5 miles per hour. . ." According to Region 10 EPA, "The 5 MPH limit statement on this label would be advisory and is used to help prevent injury to nearby desirable vegetation.  The mandatory language in this case is: "Do not allow the solution to drift onto desirable vegetation."

Thus, although the public is lead to believe that there is a wind speed limit on the label for spraying Rodeo, the fact is that EPA considers this only advisory and non-enforceable and in reality, there is no wind speed limit at all.  You could spray the damn stuff in a hurricane as long as it didn't drift onto desirable vegetation!
Check out the Symptoms of Pesticide Poisoning
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