Why pet safe lawn fertilizer makes sense?

Typically, pet owners, do everything they can to provide their pets with a lifetime of love, affection, nutrition and a healthy living environment. Unfortunately, the health risks, associated with the use of chemical lawn fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides, are sometimes overlooked. Pets will munch on lawn grass and when  they munch on lawn grass, treated with chemicals, their health is at risk.

Exposure to herbicide-treated lawns and gardens increases the risk of bladder cancer by four to seven times in Scottish Terriers, according to a study by Purdue University veterinary researchers published in the April 15, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2004; 24:1290-1297). The study adds to earlier research conducted by the National Institutes of Health that found elevated rates of canine lymphoma in dogs exposed to lawn pesticides (1991). (See Beyond Pesticides factsheet) Meanwhile the American Veterinary Medical Association issued a release, "Herbicide Exposure May Increase Cancer Risk in Dogs," with the study authors' recommendations that owners of Scottish Terriers "should decrease their dogs' exposure to lawns or gardens treated with common herbicides, particularly phenoxy herbicides and possibly nonphenoxy herbicides" and "veterinarians should perform routine (every six months) cytologic urine exams in Scottish Terriers and other 'genetically high risk' breeds over six years old." 

In addition to presenting health risks to pets, Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides place our children and ourselves at risk. Children are especially at risk to side effects from chemicals. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences have voiced concern about the dangers that pesticides pose to children. A California law now gives you the right to be notified before your child’s school uses a pesticide.

“Kids across the country carry a mixture of dangerous chemicals in their bodies every day,” said Kristin Schafer, program coordinator at Pesticide Action Network. “While the chemical industry will say this is the cost of doing business, we say risking our kids’ health is not acceptable, and it's high time to shift to nontoxic ways of controlling pests.”

SAN FRANCISCO (July 21, 2005)--Scientists at Pesticide Action Network North America analyzed pesticide data in a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), finding that more than 90% of those tested carried a mixture of pesticides in their bodies. Many of these chemicals have been linked to health effects such as cancer, birth defects and neurological problems.

"Urban and suburban residents are now subjected to more pesticide exposure than their rural counterparts."
Source: MOTHER EARTH NEWS No. 123