I wonder how many residents of Lynnwood know we’ve had a moratorium on high hazard pesticide applications for the past year? Our good city council voted for it 7-0 last year, but the moratorium is about to expire June 1. A pesticide policy will be adopted soon, but what kind?
The EPA and numerous other authorities link pesticides currently on the market to serious health hazards – especially to pregnant women, infants and children, those who frequent parks and recreational facilities the most. Any common sense policy would ban the most toxic insecticides, herbicides and fungicides – those linked to cancer, damage to the nervous system, hormonal damage, reproductive damage, and with high toxicity for salmon. It would ensure that toxic pesticides are used only when less toxic alternatives are not available or effective. It would prohibit using high hazard pesticides for “aesthetic looks” alone.
There are effective and harmless substitutes for any high-hazard pesticide. Neem Oil is a known substitute for the high-hazard compound Dursban, banned by the EPA for home use because it’s too hazardous to human health. Yet the city of Lynnwood nonetheless continues to list Dursban as approved for use in public parks, frequented most often by pregnant women, infants, and children – precisely those most at risk. Instead of using broad-leaf herbicides with 2, 4-D (one of two key ingredients in Agent Orange) on grass fields, a commercial substitute of vinegar, citric acid, pepper, salt and essential oils can do the job. City staff needs to educate itself through our local nurseries, WSU extensions and gardening columnists. It’s a matter of public health and safety.
I urge the citizens of Lynnwood to exercise their patriotic duty by attending a public hearing on this matter tonight at 7 p.m.
Lynnwood
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