Hazardous Lawns essays

Hazardous Lawns essays In Canada three out of every ten households use pesticides and almost half use chemical fertilizers (Ring, n.d.). Considering the vast number of households in the country the amount of chemicals that are seeping into our food and ground water is enormous. Pesticides have been linked to cause illnesses in people and wildlife. However, households continue to fertilize their lawns every spring to kill insects and weeds in order to obtain the perfect lawn. Pesticides are used to eliminate pests and designed to kill various species of weeds in our lawns. They are very effective at making or grass greener and less patchy. Typical pesticides include; insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and bacterial disinfectants. In Canada the most common pesticides at present are chlorphenoxy compounds which are used to kill broad leaved plants. The major ingredient is 2,4-dichlorphenoxyacetic acid and during manufacture other substances may be produced which contaminate the product, including dioxins such as tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. The second most common herbicide used in domestic situations is glyphosate When a pesticide is sprayed only 5% of the spray actually hits the targeted location. Movement from wind volatilization and leaching spreads the pesticide around. It could contaminate up to 30 homes in a residential area. A study suggests up to 3% of pesticides applied to lawns are tracked inside from feet walking over the sprayed area. Its difficult to document the level of pesticides in humans. Although humans are one race, people with different ethnic backgrounds could react differently to studies done on them. Most tests are done on genetically identical laboratory animals and then extrapolated to humans (Ring, n.d.). Glyphosate herbicide is an organic acid which can affect the function of the liver, kidney, skin, eyes, and can cause symptoms such as anorexia, vomiting, and muscle weakness. Pesticides have al ...