We are grateful to our Lane County Commissioners for voting 5-0 to place a moratorium on roadside herbicide spray.  Their decision was not arbitrary – the issue of spraying poisons on our public roads has been deliberated by the Board many times and many years. The Commissioners, acting as the Board of Health, considered the growing evidence of human, animal and environmental hazards associated with the use of pesticides. Arguments limited to only the direct costs of vegetation containment ignore the real costs of disease and disrupted physiological balance with increasing pesticide exposure. 

Herbicides don’t stay where they are put.  When sprayed on roadsides, they run-off and drift into the surrounding environment, exposing people in cars, bikers, hikers and residential property.  These chemicals are not easily flushed from living tissue.  Studies by public health experts show strong evidence that pesticide exposure harms humans, especially children. Cumulative exposure leads to increasing breast cancer risks in particular to young women who were exposed as children as one example of many problems.  Men face higher rates of prostate cancer and infertility issues with lower sperm counts and hormone reductions.

A study done at Stanford University School of Medicine found that the use of herbicides or weed killers in the garden, or fungicides to control mold or mildew increases the risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsonism, a risk we all will face.

Other health effects include increasing the toxic burden to autistic children.  Some medical professionals believe that children with autism disorder are less able to metabolize pesticide molecules into less hazardous substances, which has the effect of intensifying the toxic response in these vulnerable children when they are exposed. 

These chemicals have extremely potent affects at low doses of exposure.  A series of studies done in Hood River County by the Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) found that small amounts of pesticides in the environment can be detected in human blood and urine. The researchers determined that thinking, memory and spatial skills can be impaired when people are exposed to pesticides, even at low levels. 

The required government studies of toxicity are done only on the touted ‘active’ ingredient, not the final chemical composite of pesticide sold. The pesticide product actually contains so-called inactive ingredients that remain undisclosed to the public because they are considered “trade secrets.”  Many of the ‘inactive proprietary’ substances formulated into the pesticide can increase both the final potency and toxicity over a thousand fold. 

We feel that the RG editorial on June 22, “Last resort, no resort,” missed the point of the County’s Last Resort Policy by suggesting that chemicals will always be necessary, at some point.  The authors cited the example of invasive wild blackberry bushes that grow along roadways.  We agree that certain plants can be a problem.  However, many invasive weeds, including blackberries, are able to regenerate following herbicide treatment. That is why weed prevention techniques, as required by the Last Resort policy, help prevent re-infestation and stop an unending cycle of pesticide use. 

Lane County Commissioners are not alone in their concern about the risks of pesticides. Other businesses and governments are taking protective action.  The Canadian division of Home Depot announced that it will stop selling lawn pesticides by the end of 2008. Ontario Province, Toronto, and Quebec, plus fifty-five other municipalities have banned the use of pesticides for lawns. 

The Lane County Commissioners were responsibly wise to reaffirm public health and environmental preservation. We applaud their courage and counting in of all of the costs.

Lisa Arkin, Executive Director
Oregon Toxics Alliance
Eugene, Oregon

Kenneth Welker, M.D.
Oregon Optimal Health