05/23/06 Toxic Chemicals at our Fingertips

I invite you to take a walk through virtually any home improvement store&. traipse through the garden section, paints, adhesives, even the flooring department and note number of toxic ingredients available for purchase. Availability is one issue but to make matters even worse in many cases instruction for safe application is tucked away in miniscule type behind four pages of product promotion. Given this dangerous situation you would imagine the entrance to Home Depot or Lowe's would be picketed by the same activists that protest pesticides use in production agriculture. It is simply hypocritical that extremist would rather stir up controversy over chemicals that are applied by certified crop applicators required to complete continuing education rather than a homeowner who might rinse rat killer down the storm drain. While you and I can spray our pesky blackberry bushes with what ever chemicals we want, and how much we want, an EPA-registered pesticide undergoes up to 120 tests to monitor its effect on human health and the environment. So the next time you see an activist heckling a farmer, you now know where to tell them to go. Source: American Crop Protection Association