Tonight: Herbicide Use to Be Considered by City of Oakland

Oakland is being pressured to use pesticides on
city-owned property in the wildfire prevention
district. Many do not understand that pesticides
sicken and even kill.

Monsanto (with UC contracts) has confused people for
years. They talk about the active ingredient of
RoundUp but not the detrimental effects of inerts,
which don’t have to be disclosed or tested before
registration. A surfacant added to RoundUp, (POEA), is
contaminated by 1,4 dioxane during manufacturing. It
is a carcinogen, under Prop. 65. Formaldehyde is a
breakdown product of the active ingredient,
Glyphosate. Both Glyphosate and Triclopyr (active
ingredient in Garlon 4) inhibit the work of
mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants with nutrient
uptake. RoundUp is associated with skin; eye; systemic
and acute respiratory illnesses; inhibiting
detoxification of chemicals in the body; possible
adverse cancer effects; tumors; causes gene mutations;
is a reproductive toxicant; is toxic to fish and
aquatic organisms; inhibits mycorrhizal fungi; is
highly persistant in soil. Garlon 4 is associated with
weakness; incoordination; respiratory problems;
tremors; kidney damage, less hemoglobin and red blood
cells, and liver damage in rats; reproductive problems
including skeletal deformities; tadpoles lose their
avoidance response needed to escape prey; toxicity to
beneficial spider mites; triclopyr-treated trees about
twice as likely as untreated trees to be damaged by
the tip moth whose damage increases risk for fusiform
rust, a pine disease; genetic damage to plants;
inhibiting mycorrhizal fungi; reduction in moss and
lichen diversity; EPA calls it “very mobile in soil,”
with the “potential to leach into groundwater” (lack
of studies comes into play, often the case);
contaminates rivers and streams (USGS study of urban
watersheds near Seattle, found Triclopyr in 90 percent
of the sites sampled); the breakdown product TCP
especially hazardous to kids inhibiting neurons from
normal growth and disrupts mitochondria. Imazapyr, the
active ingredient in the product Stalker, is corrosive
to eyes and can cause irreversible damage; it causes
skin problems; in lab studies fluids found in lungs,
kidney cysts, abnormal blood formation in the the
spleen, and increases in thyroid and brain cancers,
and increased tumors and cancers of the adrenal gland;
a study showed it to be more mobile in soil than
Atrazine (water contaminant). Remember suppression of
UC Prof. Tyrone Hayes’ research regarding Atrazine and
toxicity to frogs? In ’92, EPA found thatGlyphosate
leaches. And EPA has found Triclopyr in wells.
Imazapyr, active ingredient in the product, Stalker,
is highly persistant in soil, and leaches. In fact, it
is slow-acting, with suggestions that you may have to
wait up to two years to cut down trees. Leaching
threatens endangered plants and animals nearby. Mixing
products creates synergism and can cause deadly
effects as toxicity is potentiated.

We are living in the middle of a public health crisis
already. Lives are at stake. Join East Bay Pesticide
Alert, Stop Toxic Trespass to demand non-toxic methods
only. Wednesday, January 26, 2005, at Oakland City
Hall (12th and Broadway, right by 12th St. BART), in
Hearing Room 4, at 7 pm.

Maxina Ventura of East Bay Pesticide Alert