2,4-D: RESEARCH SHOWS IT IS NOT AS SAFE AS WE ARE LED TO BELIEVE

By Kelly J. Sullivan

Though few are aware of it, a toxic chemical is being added to ponds and rivers throughout the country every year. Completely legal and available at most lawn and garden stores, the chemical has the potential to destroy not only the effected water body's ecological system but also the health of humans and animals alike.

The chemical is Dichtorophenoxyacetis Acid. Chances are most people can't spell it, can't pronounce it and probably don't even know what it is. And despite its use in a variety of products, even its manufacturer warns that it may prove fatal if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Shortened to 2,4-D, this easily obtained compound has an infamous history, being one of the two chemicals used to create the Vietnam-era defoliant, Agent Orange. Although Agent Orange's second chemical has been banned, 2,4-D is still used as both a lawn herbicide as well as a means of controlling the growth of aquatic plant life in rivers and ponds.

State officials claim they have no way of either determining or fully controlling it's use. While individuals are required to obtain a permit before applying the chemical to large bodies of water, no permission is needed to purchase the products which contain it. Virtually anyone can buy 2,4-D and employee it without anyone knowing. "You can get it at Agway or even over the Internet," states a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Management. A spokesman for a North Carolina company which produces products containing 2,4-D claims that the products are completely safe if used properly. "But I don't think it would be a good idea to mess with it within 50 feet of a well," he stated. "Whatever you use that close is going to get into your drinking water." Company policy, he added, is to tell applicators to take measures to prevent anyone from entering the treated water body for at least 24 hours. "But that's tough to say," he admitted. "Because after the chemical hits the bottom, the 2,4-D comes out of the granules and I really don't know how long it stays around."

Whether the chemical "stays around" for 24 hours, 24 days or 24 years, it has enough time to begin a chain reaction that can be virtually endless, according to scientific research. Once plants take in 2,4-D, a sharp increase occurs in the plant's level of nitrates. Any insect or animal that ingests a plant with a nitrate level that high will experience a slow, agonizing death that begins with the ingestors blood pigment turning brown and sticky. The oxygen that must pass from the lungs through the body cannot get there as it becomes adhered to the gumlike pigment which was once flowing blood.

Finally respiration stops and death ensues. When this ingestor is part of a food chain, the dangers of the chemical intensify. The insects that become contaminated by feeding off the treated plants are then eaten by fish. The fish are then eaten by birds…or humans. By this chain reaction, it is easy to realize that 2,4-D application cannot be "controlled" nor can anyone be assured that the chemical will kill only it's "target".

Agent Orange Compound

First introduced in 1944, the corrosive white powder of 2,4-D is comprised of Auxins, matter which works in a similar fashion to a plant's own growth hormones. The Auxins in 2,4-D retard the growth process of plants by producing tumorlike swellings that affect cell division. Because 2,4-D increases the sugar content of the affected plant during this process, birds, fish, insects and animals that would normally not eat such plants are suddenly drawn to the sweet scent and taste.

According to research conducted by Dr. Herbert Needleman and Dr. Philip Landrigan, experts in Environmental Medicine, 2,4-D is closely related to it's Agent Orange partner, Phenoxy Acid, also called 2,4,5-T. Agent Orange was a 50/50 mix of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. Used in Vietnam to kill off vegetation that would have provided the enemy with a hiding place, the negative effects of the chemical on human health were not well known at that time. Of the 15 herbicides used during Vietnam, five contained 2,4-D.

Today, 2,4-D has the potential of becoming even deadlier during the manufacturing process. It has gained notoriety for becoming contaminated by another chemical called Dioxen, during its manufacture. Dioxen, also called TCDD, is the most synthetic chemical known to man. It has been shown to cause Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Soft Tissue Carcinoma in people who have been exposed to it.

The International Agency for Cancer Research has found 2,4-D to cause mutations and reproductive problems in exposed test animals. Further testing showed that the ingestion of the chemical by these animals caused intestinal irritations, heart spasms, depression of the central nervous system, loss of coordination, stomach ulcers and death.

In 1990, the Clean Air Act announced 2,4-D as a "hazardous air pollutant" and the chemical was added to the Community Right To Know List, which alerts people about the dangers of toxic chemicals. Many of these dangers are listed right on the product label: "Harmful if swallowed, absorbed through the skin or inhaled", "Avoid contact with eyes, skin and clothing", Run-off vapors may adversely affect non-target plants", "Caution should be exercised when using this product at sites where there could be contamination of groundwater", "Do not apply to waters used for irrigation or domestic water supply", "This product is toxic to fish".

Underwater Chemistry Lab

The application of 2,4-D in water bodies is cause for even greater concern when one considers that it will actually increase the toxic effects of other chemicals already present in the water, such as DDT. An insecticide, DDT was banned several years ago. However it has been found still resting on the grounds of water bodies throughout the United States. Combined, the two chemicals double the amount of toxicity in what can only be described as an underwater chem lab, producing results that could be deadly for all life forms exposed to it. Exposure need not come from drinking or bathing in the treated water. Toxic vapors may be carried through the air for many miles and 2,4-D has been found resting in wells far from areas where the chemical was used.

Although the dangers of 2,4-D are abundantly clear, it remains on the market because the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed that the "positive" results of the chemical use outweigh the risks. The United States Forestry & Agriculture Department uses millions of pounds of 2,4-D every year in our rivers, lakes and ponds. So we are left to believe that ridding water bodies of unwanted plantlife is of greater national concern than human health. Even with laws and guidelines and permits required for using the chemical, we can be given no assurance that it will kill only it's target and not the other unsuspecting life forms it comes into contact with.