Watch Out For Killer Compost

[Staff]

Watch Out For Killer Compost
Home food gardens are falling victim to a persistent pesticide found in some forms of compost.
By Cheryl Long and Barbara Pleasant

Watch Out For Killer Compost
excerpts from above:

Gardeners beware — straw, manure and maybe even compost can kill your garden, thanks to the folks at the Dow chemical company. An herbicide called aminopyralid, released by DowAgroscience in 2005 and aggressively marketed to horse and cattle owners to control perennial weeds, has been associated with the loss of thousands of home gardens in Great Britain this year. So can it happen here? You bet! Previously treated straw and even well-rotted manure may carry enough persistent plant killer to kill tomatoes, lettuce, beans and other sensitive crops.

Dow’s Clouded History

This is the second time that Dow herbicides that were supposed to degrade within days were found to persist for years. In 2001, Dow’s clopyralid (still sold as Confront), was found to be the contaminant in compost that killed home garden and nursery plants in Washington, Pennsylvania and New Zealand. Aminopyralid, the active ingredient in common herbicides Milestone and Forefront, belongs to the same class of chemicals that includes clopyralid.

[Staff]

Milestone Herbicide Creates Killer Compost
7/24/2009 8:34:58 AM
By Barbara Pleasant

Milestone Herbicide Creates Killer Compost
excerpts from above:

Davis is now receiving notices daily from growers and extension agents across the country who are seeing vegetables damaged by manure, hay or compost contaminated with Milestone. Tomatoes are highly sensitive; symptoms including curled, cupped leaves and wilting new growth are often misdiagnosed as a virus or disease problem.

Organic growers who have lost their crops suffer a double punch because they lose certification on the contaminated land. Recovery can take a long time. In a former North Carolina hay field treated with Milestone (one of several aminopyralid products) in June 2006, residue levels were high enough to damage tomatoes in 2009 — three years later.

Do we really want to allow companies to make their profits by selling chemicals that are this potent?

This entire problem is a repeat of damage that surfaced several years ago in the United States from another persistent Dow herbicide, clopyralid (sold as Reclaim, Stinger, Hornet, Transline, Confront, Lontrel, Curtail and Millenium Ultra). Dow was marketing clopyralid for broadleaf weed control on residential lawns, which meant it was contaminating grass clippings used to make municipal composts. Researchers eventually traced mysterious damage in gardens across the United States to the herbicide residues in composts.

Why is this happening all over again?! These poisons are so powerful that they can persist for years, and they can damage sensitive crops at levels as low as 10 parts per billion, according to an Ohio State University factsheet. In some cases the lab tests needed to detect them at those levels had not even been developed.

[Equilibrium]

Oh great. Wonderful news. I'm in horse country. Um, thanks for sharing.

[Prairiefreak]

I'm sure the American Enterprise Institute will have a positive spin on this development.

[suunto]

I first encountered a similar situation during the mid-1980s while living in Maryland. I was staying in an apartment, and grew vegetables in a community garden plot. In an effort to improve the soil and hold down weeds, I scavenged lawn clippings, leaves, etc. from neighborhood homes to put down between rows and raised beds in my plot. I thought that I had hit a big score when I got permission from a local lawn service to collect clippings and other debris from from their holding area. It was only after noting severe damage to my bean crop that I realized that my prize trove was herbicide contaminated!

[Equilibrium]

Herbicide contamination is a big problem... a problem that I didn't realize was extended to the compost I was buying. This sucks.

[TheLorax]

The active ingredient in Milestone is aminopyralid. It's a wonder more gardeners haven't been affected. This is a Dow product. Dow, "We bring good things to life".

Aminopyralid Herbicide Residue in Manure Killing Crops | Allotment Growing Diary Plus,

The active chemical, aminopyralid, is present in:

• Banish
• Forefront
• Halcyon
• Pharaoh
• Pro-Banish
• Runway

All are marketed in the UK by Dow AgroSciences Ltd

The residues are getting into the manure by two routes. Where grass land has been treated with aminopyralid containing herbicides and cattle or horses grazed on it, the chemical is excreted into manure. Dow actually state that " Aminopyralid is water soluble and is excreted in urine relatively rapidly"

The other route is direct from straw used as bedding where the crop has been treated.

The net result is that we now have to treat manure as a potential problem. Stables and many cattle farmers buy in their bedding straw and, although they may be able to state they have not used the product on their grass, they may not know that aminopyralid has been used on the bedding.

[TheLorax]

I am adding this from a ListServ,

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been inundated with calls from
concerned gardeners who have seen potatoes, beans, peas, carrots and
salad
vegetables wither or become grossly deformed. The society admitted
that it had no
idea of the extent of the problem, but said it appeared 'significant'.
The
affected gardens and allotments have been contaminated by manure
originating
from farms where the hormone-based herbicide aminopyralid has been
sprayed on
fields.

Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures aminopyralid, has posted advice to
allotment holders and gardeners on its website. Colin Bowers, Dow's UK
grassland
marketing manager, told The Observer that links to their products had
been
proved in some of the cases, but it was not clear whether aminopyralid
was
responsible for all of them and tests were continuing. 'It is
undoubtedly a
problem,' he said, 'and I have got full sympathy for everyone who is
involved with
this.'

He said the company was unable to advise gardeners that it was 'safe' to
consume vegetables that had come into contact with the manure because of
pesticide regulations. 'All we can say is that the trace levels of
aminopyralid that
are likely to be in these crops are of such low levels that they are
unlikely to cause a problem to human health.'

The Dow website says: 'As a general rule, we suggest damaged produce
(however this is caused) should not be consumed.' Those who have
already used
contaminated manure are advised not to replant on the affected soil
for at least a
year.

Aminopyralid, which is found in several Dow products, the most popular
being
Forefront, a herbicide, is not licensed to be used on food crops and
carries
a label warning farmers using it not to sell manure that might contain
residue to gardeners. The Pesticides Safety Directorate, which has
issued a
regulatory update on the weedkiller, is taking samples from affected
plants for
testing.

Problems with the herbicide emerged late last year, when some commercial
potato growers reported damaged crops. In response, Dow launched a
campaign
within the agriculture industry to ensure that farmers were aware of
how the
products should be used. Nevertheless, the herbicide has now entered
the food
chain. Those affected are demanding an investigation and a ban on the
product.
They say they have been given no definitive answer as to whether other
produce
on their gardens and allotments is safe to eat.

It appears that the contamination came from grass treated 12 months ago.
Experts say the grass was probably made into silage, then fed to
cattle during
the winter months. The herbicide remained present in the silage,
passed through
the animal and into manure that was later sold. Horses fed on hay
that had
been treated could also be a channel.

Bryn Pugh, legal consultant at the National Society of Allotments and
Leisure Gardeners, said he was preparing claims for some members to
seek financial
compensation from the manure suppliers. But it was extremely difficult
to
trace the exact origins of each contaminated batch. 'It seems to be
everywhere.
From what I know, it is endemic throughout England and Wales. We
will be
pressing the government to ban this product,' he said.

Aminopyralid is popular with farmers, who spray it on grassland
because it
controls weeds such as docks, thistles and nettles without affecting
the grass
around them. It binds itself to the woody tissue in the grass and only
breaks
down when exposed to bacteria in the soil.

Why did the EPA approve this?

[JennyC]

Money.

[Equilibrium]

Ya think?