Acephate
Pesticide Dangers - Acephate
Pesticides such as acephate, bifenthrin, carbaryl, imidacloprid and trichlorfon do a good job of killing lawn pests but also have adverse effects on nontargeted insects and birds. Acephate, for example kills molecrickets, chinch bugs and ants, but is also highly toxic to honeybees. Birds are also unintended victims of pesticide poisonings. Susceptible to chemicals wafting in the air, birds also feed on bugs and worms living in infected lawns. Pesticide pellets often look tantalizingly like food to birds. According to the National Audubon Society, declining bird populations correspond to the increased use of pesticides.
Pesticides have also been linked to a range of human health issues from mild flu-like symptoms to lowered fertility rates, miscarriages, birth defects, liver and kidney problems, neurological damage, heart disease, immune system disorders and cancer.
Dangers to Children
Kids, particularly infants and toddlers, are more susceptible to the health risks associated with lawn pesticides than adults. Play routines that encourage outdoor lawn tromping activities also mean that children's skin comes in direct contact with residual lawn chemicals. They can breathe or ingest trace amounts every time they put their hands or lawn-touching toys in their mouths. Because children's brains, nervous, reproductive and immune systems are still developing and because a small amount to an adult is proportionately large to small children, the effects of the poisons multiply. Additionally, there is medical evidence that suggests that children's developing excretory systems may be unable to remove pesticides in the way an adult's can.
Chemical Fertilizers
Even chemical fertilizers intended to grow rather than kill can have a negative impact on the environment. Those booster shots of nitrogen and phosphorus that many fertilizers contain often inject lawns with more than they need. As a result, the soil's natural ecosystem can be tilted. Additionally, while fertilizers may be good for green lawns, they're not so good for many other plants, wildlife and fish. As runoff from lawns makes its way to streams and rivers, the far reach of fertilizers and pesticides can leave a lasting and negative impact no where near their originating neighborhood.
Contaminations to Water
Lawn chemicals leech to groundwater and make their way to streams and rivers. From tiny microcosms that are consumed by larger organisms to fish that are consumed by animals and humans, everyone is then subject to some level of chemical exposure. While the effects of the poisons are their own danger, they also require human bodily responses. Immune systems ramp up in defense and reactions can lead to overreactions. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is believed to be the result of overexposure to synthetic chemicals. This debilitating condition is a hypersensitivity to even what would have been considered benign chemicals. Symptoms can include nausea, fatigue, headaches, rashes, irritability and mood changes, breathing problems, chest pains, and more.
Acephate
Common Product Names
Orthene (Valent)
Asataf (Valent)
Pillarthene (Valent)
Kitron (Valent)
Aimthane (Valent)
Ortran (Valent)
Ortho 12420 (Valent)
Ortril (Valent)
Chrevron RE 12420 (Valent)
Orthene 755 (Valent)
Ace-jet (Arborjet)
Acecap (Creative Sales)
Arbor x thene (Florida Silvics)
Bonide (Bonide Products)
Borer-stop Ecotab (Agscitech)
Cheminova acephate (Cheminova)
Acephate 75 (United Phosphorous)
Acephate 75 (Control Solutions)
Acephate 75 wsp (Loveland Products)
Acephate 75% (Chemstarr)
Acephate 75sp (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate 80s (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate 90 sp (United Phosphorous, Inc.)
Acephate 90 sp (Makhteshim-agan of North America, Inc.)
Acephate 90% (Chemstarr)
Acephate 90sp (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate 90sp (Loveland Products, Inc.)
Acephate 90sp (United Phosphorous, Inc.)
Acephate 97 (Loveland Products, Inc.)
Acephate 97 (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate 97 (United Phosphorous, Inc.)
Acephate g-pro 97 (Etigra)
Acephate pco (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate technical (Micro-flo Company)
Acephate technical (Control Solutions, Inc.)
Acephate technical (Chemstarr)
Acephate tree, turf & ornamental spray (Nufarm Americas Inc.)Acephate is a Organophosphorus compound.
Symptoms of Poisoning with Organophosphorus Compounds
- Excessive salivation, sweating, rhinorrhea and tearing.
- Muscle twitching, weakness, tremor, incoordination.
- Headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea.
- Respiratory depression, tightness in chest, wheezing, productive cough, fluid in lungs.
- Pin-point pupils, sometimes with blurred or dark vision.
- Severe cases: seizures, incontinence, respiratory depression, loss of consciousness.
- Cholinesterase inhibition.