Is Your Lawn Killing You?

By Melinda Carstensen

Lawn chemicals are making us sick.

That’s the message of a recent New York Times piece by Diane Lewis, a New York-based doctor and the author of “The Healthy Yard Project.”

Store-bought pesticides, fertilizers and weed killers contain toxic chemicals that put people and animals at risk — especially children and pets coming into contact with recently treated lawns.

When chemicals are washed with rainwater into rivers and streams, and are absorbed into the ground, they can pollute drinking water and other aquifers. Despite these potential risks, there are few standards for what sorts of chemicals are acceptable for use on lawns, or in what amounts.

“The amounts of these chemicals are small and often considered ‘acceptable,’ but scientists now know that they have a cumulative effect,” Lewis writes in the Times. “Many chemicals that we use very casually on our lawns cause long-term health problems in ways that have only recently been understood.”

• Do you use chemicals on your lawn, and if so, do you worry about their safety? Do you think the EPA should set larger-scale safety measures for fertilizers and pesticides that apply to homeowners? Tell us in comments below.

High exposure to chemicals like glyphosate, carbaryl, malathion, and 2,4-D may affect the endocrine system, causing infertility, Parkinson’s disease and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Small amounts have been linked to autism, ADHD, diabetes and cancer, experts say.

The Endocrine Society, which studies diseases related to the hormonal system, published a statement in 2009 based on 485 research papers that showed the potential health effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

These studies take decades, Lewis argues, adding, “this means that there are more studies implicating older chemicals, many of which are no longer sold because of known toxicities.” Scientists suspect chemicals still in use are equally harmful.

Nathan Diegelman, of the S.T.A.T.E. Foundation, wrote about how pesticides can harm homeowners and their neighbors in an op-ed for the research website chem-tox.com.

“Many components are classified as ‘inert,’ which allows them to be kept hidden from the public and not listed on product labels,” Diegelman writes. “Listed chemicals can be just as dangerous. They include components of wartime defoliants like Agent Orange, nerve-gas type insecticides, and artificial hormones. Some the federal government has even prohibited from use on its own property.”

The EPA advises homeowners to wear protective clothing and read warning labels on packages before using pesticides. While the Environmental Protection Agency has announced new pesticide safety guidelines to protect farmworkers, no formal set of guidelines exists for homeowners. And experts estimate homeowners use up to 10 times more chemicals per acre than farmers do.

Some towns across America have started initiatives to cut down on the list of potentially harmful chemicals used by their residents. In the Patch town of Middletown, Conn., for example, the Project Green Lawn Committee holds workshops and public education events to encourage organic lawn care.

For a campaign of the same name of her book, Lewis is calling on home owners to pledge to take care of their yards “without synthetic pesticides, weed killers and fertilizers except on rare occasions to resolve an infestation or to improve habitat for native plants and wildlife (and) … not to throw pharmaceuticals or chemicals down my drain or toilets.”

She points out that developing simpler, more holistic practices can help keep lawns healthy and pollution levels down.

Leaving grass clippings on a lawn keeps soil moist for longer periods of time, for example, and letting grass grow to four inches allows roots to grow longer and to absorb more water and nutrients. Native plants also require less water and upkeep, and they support wildlife.

Experts say those changes have the potential to save time and money, and keep our families — and their drinking water — safe.