NPR : Suburban = Lawn Run-Off Poisons Aquatic Life

Environment

Suburban Lawn Run-Off Poisons Aquatic Life

<= IMG=20 height=3D16 alt=3D"Listen to this story..."=20 src=3D"http://download.npr.org/anon.npr-www/chrome/icon_listen.gif" = width=3D67=20 align=3Dleft> by Tamara = Keith

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Erin Amweg

Urban drool refers to the low-level runoff that = occurs all=20 summer long from the overwatering of lawns and landscaping. The runoff=20 potentially carries pesticides with it to the creeks.

Web Resources

California Department of Pesticide Regulation=20
More=20 Pesticide Safety Tips=20
Full list of products under review by CDPR(Requires Adobe Acrobat)

Consumer Tips

Always follow the disposal directions on labels. When you have a = little=20 bit left, don't empty it out onto the curb.=20
Don't use a product on your lawn, then immediately turn the = sprinklers on.=20
Don't overuse a product.

Courtesy: California Department of Pesticide Regulation =

Pyrethroid Products

Common household products that contain pyrethroids include:

Termiticides=20
Insect foggers and sprays=20
Flea dips and sprays for cats and dogs=20
Ornamental garden and turf products=20
Lice shampoos=20
Mosquito coils

All = Things=20 Considered, October 18, 2006 =B7 = A class=20 of common pesticides you probably have stowed under your kitchen sink or = out in=20 the garage may be more harmful to the environment than originally = thought.

Pyrethroids are the synthetic cousin of a pesticide made from = chrysanthemum=20 flowers, and they're in everything from ant spray to dog shampoo. = California is=20 the first state to closely examine the environmental impacts of these = very=20 common products. And it recently launched the state's largest pesticide=20 re-evaluation ever.

Pyrethroids (pronounced pie-WREATH-royds) became the pesticide of = choice as=20 more problematic agents like DDT and Diaznon were phased out. Now, = between=20 agricultural, commercial and home applications, Californians alone use = nearly a=20 million pounds of pyrethroids a year.

Mary-Ann Warmerdam is director of the California Department of = Pesticide=20 Regulation. The department is undertaking a rare re-evaluation of more = than 600=20 pesticide products containing pyrethroids.

"These are viewed as softer materials, easier to use, less toxic to = the=20 environment," Warmerdam says. "We would very much like to see these = materials=20 continuing to be available to the consumer market. Consumers want these=20 products. Our concern is, why are these products finding their way into = places=20 they shouldn't be?"

Turning Up Toxic in the Suburbs

One place where pyrethroids have turned up is a creek running through = a=20 Sacramento suburb. University of California at Berkeley researcher Don = Weston is=20 up to his knees in water. Wearing waterproof duck-hunting pants, he = sloshes=20 through the creek, gathering samples of its muddy bottom and scooping = the=20 sediments into a gallon-sized jar.

He's looking for pyrethroids. In an earlier study of this creek, he = found=20 enough of the synthetic chemicals in some of the sediments to kill off = the small=20 invertebrates he uses in lab tests.

"The creek becomes toxic from the point where that tributary enters," = Weston=20 explains, "so I was going to get a sample around the mouth of where that = tributary comes in."

Turning Up Toxic in Urban Streams

When pyrethroids were originally approved for use, it was assumed = that they=20 wouldn't hurt aquatic life because they don't persist in the water = column.=20 However, pyrethroids are drawn to sediments like a magnet where they do = persist.=20 The existence of pyrethroids may be harmful to tiny mud-dwelling = critters and=20 potentially for the fish that eat those critters.

In urban streams, Weston says, the toxicity isn't caused by big = industry or=20 farms -- it's mom and dad and two kids and a dog, and the pesticides = that we use=20 to try and keep the bugs out of our house and off our property.

To the San Francisco-based Pesticide Action Network this = re-evaluation of=20 pyrethroids is good news. Susan Kegley is a senior scientist with the = group.=20

"I'm hoping that there will be some restrictions on use," Kegley = says.=20 "Getting the stuff off the market would, of course, be the first choice=20 altogether."

That of course, isn't the first choice of the 123 companies whose = products=20 are up for review.

Parry Klaussen is executive director of an industry-funded group = called the=20 Coalition for Urban Rural Environmental Stewardship. "The writing is on = the=20 wall," Klaussen says. "If people don't figure out how to use these = correctly,=20 the government is going to take them away."

Klaussen says if people want to continue killing ants and other pests = with a=20 quick spritz, there are no good alternatives available.

But if consumers are willing to use the pesticide differently, = Klaussen=20 believes the product can be used in a way that doesn't allow it to end = up in=20 streams.

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Suburban Lawn Run-Off Poisons Aquatic Life

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