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Pesticide problems
May. 13th, 2014 10:53 amTwo things I will get up on the soapbox for: bicycling and pesticide misuse.
It's good to see the New York Times drawing attention to the stupid over-use of pesticides in lawn and home maintenance:
"Occasional localized use to deal with an otherwise uncontainable infestation, or to deal mindfully with an invasive species, is not the problem, but routine, frequent and widespread use is. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service says homeowners use up to 10 times more chemicals per acre than farmers do. Some of these chemicals rub off on children or pets, but most are washed with rainwater into our streams, lakes and rivers or are absorbed into our groundwater. These are the sources of our drinking water, and tests show these chemicals are indeed contaminating our water supply."
They also note that the EPA is currently seeking comments on the Proposed Agricultural Worker Protection Standard - a standard to limit agricultural worker exposure to pesticides. It isn't actually government unless people chime in - please add your voice to the comments!
I really wish there had been a greater emphasis on the handling, use, and disposal of dangerous chemicals in my (mostly useless) high school chemistry class.
--
Edited to add... I hadn't yet heard about the freak-out over traces of human-metabolized cocaine appearing in drinking water in London, but it's a related subject. Seriously, Seattleites are fortunate to NOT live at the @ss-end of the Mississippi (how I describe my current abode, even though we actually aren't part of the Mississippi River watershed; we're still on the receiving end of a long chain of water recycling, which is terrifying).
It's good to see the New York Times drawing attention to the stupid over-use of pesticides in lawn and home maintenance:
"Occasional localized use to deal with an otherwise uncontainable infestation, or to deal mindfully with an invasive species, is not the problem, but routine, frequent and widespread use is. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service says homeowners use up to 10 times more chemicals per acre than farmers do. Some of these chemicals rub off on children or pets, but most are washed with rainwater into our streams, lakes and rivers or are absorbed into our groundwater. These are the sources of our drinking water, and tests show these chemicals are indeed contaminating our water supply."
They also note that the EPA is currently seeking comments on the Proposed Agricultural Worker Protection Standard - a standard to limit agricultural worker exposure to pesticides. It isn't actually government unless people chime in - please add your voice to the comments!
I really wish there had been a greater emphasis on the handling, use, and disposal of dangerous chemicals in my (mostly useless) high school chemistry class.
--
Edited to add... I hadn't yet heard about the freak-out over traces of human-metabolized cocaine appearing in drinking water in London, but it's a related subject. Seriously, Seattleites are fortunate to NOT live at the @ss-end of the Mississippi (how I describe my current abode, even though we actually aren't part of the Mississippi River watershed; we're still on the receiving end of a long chain of water recycling, which is terrifying).
