Toxic Herbicide Spraying

The forest acres in North Carolina treated with herbicides almost doubled between 1996 and 1997 (the last year for which data is available) Advances in vegetation control and tree genetics have resulted in rapid changes in the way some North Carolina timber farms are managed.

Many of the issues the Wildlife Resources Commission are currently evaluating focus on the application of tank mixes by International Paper Company (IP) on their 450,000 acres of forestlands in southeastern North Carolina.(Exhibit J, Report To Wildlife Resources Commission, October, 1999)

Testing on these herbicides is conducted primarily on the chemical itself, not in combination with inert ingredients, and not in combination with other herbicides. Tests have shown that combinations of two weak estrogen mimicking chemicals used in herbicides are 1,000 times more potent than the individual chemicals alone. Low potencies of these compounds when studied singly may indicate little effect on biological systems, but when combined have profound environmental implications. Science, June, 1996.

One fact becoming more publicized with each passing week is the danger to our children as they are exposed to herbicides, Children At Risk, U.S. News and World Report, June, 2000. Even very low exposures to herbicides are proven to impair childrens development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has determined that the Green Swamp consists of several types of soils, those being: Croatan, Torhunta, Rains, Woodington, and Pantego. Their common factor of high water table, rapid permeability, and seepage should prohibit the application of herbicides to these soils in an attempt to prevent contamination of downstream surface water and aquifers. Current Green Swamp forestry operating procedures include herbicide spraying over standing water and secondary ditches.

Chemicals that leach readily (move through the soil easily) can contaminate groundwater

The Concerned Citizens of Southeastern North Carolina (CCSENC) are now aware of five herbicides currently used in aerial and ground applications by forestry interests in the Green Swamp.

These herbicides have apparently been hidden from the public behind a cloak of secrecy . . . these are the ones we know:

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VELPAR (Hexazinone), manufactured by DuPont
Ingesting as little as 1 teaspoon could kill an average sized adult human.
The label affixed to each container of Velpar clearly states "The active ingredient, hexazinone, in this product is known to leach through soil into ground water under certain conditions as a result of agricultural use. Use of this chemical in areas where soils are permeable, particularly where the water table is shallow, may result in ground-water contamination."

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OUST (Sulfometuron Methyl), manufactured by DuPont
About 1 ounce (ingested) could kill an average size adult human.

The identity of 25 percent of the ingredients of Oust are called a "trade secret" by DuPont. There is no publicly available data about the identity of these secrets. Laboratory tests of Ousts leaching potential found that a high proportion (75 - 87 percent) of the amount applied leached from the soil column.
Measurements of the mobility of Oust in soil showed that it was more mobile than Atrazine, (the second most common contaminant of groundwater in the U.S.)

Drift of tiny amounts of Oust have the potential to cause significant damage to plant life and surface water.
One of the most important facts about drifting Oust is that it can occur at levels that cannot be detected in the affected crop.
Label instructions clearly state: "Do not apply directly to water, or to areas where surface water is present".

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ARSENAL (Imazapyr), manufactured by American Cyanamid


About 1 ounce of Arsenal (ingested) could kill an average adult human

Arsenal is corrosive to skin and can cause irreversible damage to eyes. Adverse effects found in laboratory animals after exposure to imazapyr include fluid accumulation in lungs, kidney cysts, abnormal blood formation in the spleen, increase in the number of brain and thyroid cancers, and an increase in the number of tumors and cancers of the adrenal glands.

Imazapyr was a persistent herbicide in field studies lasting 436 days. This is a minimum estimate of persistence because imazapyr persisted (in many cases) until the last date tested.

Imazapyrs' chemical characteristics indicate that it is mobile in water and thus likely to contaminate water. Research in Alabama found that it is nearly as mobile in soil as water and was more mobile than the widespread water contaminant Atrazine.

Ozone degradation, a treatment used to remove pesticides from drinking water is not successful with imazapyr, removing only about half the imazapyr present.

Ingredients comprising about 47 percent of Arsenal are identified only as "inerts" by American Cyanamid.

There is no publicly available information about the identity of these ingredients. There are no publicly available data regarding the reproductive
hazards posed by imazapyr-containing products.

There is no publicly available data considering the carcinogenicity of imazapyr-containing products.
There are no studies about the chronic toxicity of imazapyr-containing Products.

There are no publicly available data about the distance that imazapyr can drift.
Label instructions clearly state: "Do not apply directly to water, or to areas where surface water is present".

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ACCORD (Glyphosate), manufactured by Monsanto
About 1 ounce (ingested) could kill an average adult human

Accord contains 58.5% inert ingredients. This is a case in which some of the known inert ingredients have far greater toxicity than the active ingredients.

Glyphosate products were the third leading cause of both acute pesticide poisoning and skin and eye illnesses among California farm workers between 1984 and 1990.

The surfactant POEA often used in this herbicide has serious pulmonary toxicity effects. The Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 1987, volume 39.
In studies of people (mostly farmers) exposed to glyphosate herbicides, exposure is associated with an increased risk of miscarriages, premature birth, and the cancer non-hodgkins lymphoma.
Glyphosate treatment has reduced populations of beneficial insects, birds, and small mammals by destroying vegetation on which they depend for food and shelter.
Journal of Pesticide Reform, Fall, 1998.

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GARLON 4 (Triclopyr), manufactured by DowElanco (The people who gave us AGENT ORANGE)

About 1 ounce (ingested) could kill an average adult human
Garlon 4 persists in soils with reduced microbial activity for up to two years, and
residues can remain in plant tissues for about the same length of time.

It has contaminated ground and surface water supplies

Garlon 4 is highly toxic to mycorrhizal fungi and is detrimental to sensitive plants at small concentrations.

Some formulations of triclopyr are highly toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms.

Publicly available information indicates exposure to humans and lab animals causes eye and skin irritation; increases in the frequency of fetal death; and kidney damage.

Very few of the toxicology studies about triclopyr have been conducted by independent researchers and a complete picture of its toxicology is
difficult to obtain.

Forestry applications of Garlon 4 contain KEROSENE (a petroleum distillate extremely harmful to the hatchability rates of bird eggs.

Label instructions clearly state: "Do not apply directly to water, or to areas where surface water is present".