Subject: KILLEX LABELING CALLED "CRIMINALLY DECEPTIVE"
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 17:22:00 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State
of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Carol Browner browner.carol@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read an article entitled: KILLEX LABELING
CALLED "CRIMINALLY DECEPTIVE" - VICTORIA MAN WANTS MONSANTO PRODUCT
RECALLED - Bernard Frazer - December 23, 2000.
The controversial herbicide, Killex is on the chopping
block again. Victoria man, Ingmar Lee is on a crusade to have the weed killer
pulled from retail shelves. His plight is not based on the toxins 'inside' of
the product, but the cunningly concealed warning labels on the 'outside'.
"I have now shown (KILLEX) to many people and asked
them to carefully inspect the labeling for any health warnings, including the
entire Victoria City Council, and not one person was able to locate (a Health
Warning Label)."
He contends that, without clear warning labels, consumers
may not realize the serious health threats posed by exposure to the product,
especially among children. A good many scientists and doctors would agree.
Arguably the most widely used herbicide in Canada, Killex
employs the active ingredient 2,4-D, a chemical that is the subject of
considerable health concern. In recent studies, 2,4-D exposure has been linked
with soft tissue sarcomas, including non-Hogkin's lymphoma (see references
below). So it comes as no surprise that a groundswell of public support to ban
'cosmetic-use' pesticides, like Killex, has swept across the country.
The question in Lee's mind is, how many children have
been unwittingly exposed to the toxin as a result of profoundly insufficient
labeling? A child's exposure can be as simple as playing on a recently treated
lawn. If Dad doesn't see a warning label, he may not realize that a child's
physical contact with the pesticide, days or even weeks after it's
application, might result in a parent's worst nightmare.
In a letter to Pest Management Regulatory Agency
Executive Director, Claire Franklin, Lee points to the May 16, 2000 report
"Pesticides, Making the Right Choice for the Protection of Health and the
Environment" (by House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and
Sustainable Development). The 200 plus page document refers to a litany of
studies demonstrating grave health risks from pesticide exposure, including
2,4-D. He refers to its assertion that children are particularly vulnerable,
especially to those products used in and outside of the home.
Lee writes:
"I carefully inspected the labeling (of "Ready
to Use Killex" Reg.#18,295 and "Concentrated Killex" Reg.#
9,350) for the health warnings, which after reading (this report), I expected
to find front and centre. To my amazement, there were no visible health
warnings to be seen on the labeling, and, even the word "herbicide"
was only mentioned on the French side."
In fact, the warnings are not 'on' the labels at all. If
one is able to read "microscopic fine print", it would direct you to
'peel back' the rear label for further information... that is, as Lee
suggests, if you can get it off.
He calls this "Criminally Deceptive" and
therefore demands an "Immediate nationwide recall of all Monsanto
products which carry this kind of labeling".
Franklin agrees that the labeling requires improvement
but, in a response to Lee, she only eludes to steps being "underway to
improve this (problem)...".
The lack of clear and direct action angers him. In a
final missive, Lee holds Franklin personally responsible for any health
ramifications:
"In choosing not to take immediate action you
personally, as Executive Director of the (PMRA), are abusing your
responsibility and risking the health and safety of Canadian children."
As he continues to hammer away at the Feds, Lee asks
Canadians to be aware of the real hazards posed by improper storage or
insufficient safeguards when applying Killex. He also urges homeowners to
consider the myriad of "organic alternatives" to using pesticides.
After all, you may be saving a child's life.
-Bernard Frazer www.caps.20m.com
REFERENCES
Leiss, Savitz. Home Pesticide Use and Childhood Cancer.
1995 American Journal of Public Health 85:249-252
Hoar SK, Blair Aeal. Agricultural herbicide use and risk
of lymphoma and soft-tissue sarcoma. Journal of the American Medical
Association 1986; 256:1141-1147.
Hoar ZS, Blair A, Holmes FF, Boysen CD, Robel RJ. A case
referent study of soft-tissue sarcoma and Hodgkin's disease: farming and
insecticide use. Scand J Work Environ Health 1988; 14:224-230.
Hoar ZS, Weisenburger DD, Babbitt PA, Saal RC, Vaught JB,
Cantor KPea. A case-control study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the herbicide
2,4 - dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in eastern Nebraska. Epidemiology
1990; 1:349-356.
Persson B, Dahlander AM, Fredriksson M, Brage HN, Ohlson
CG, Aselson O. Malignant lymphomas and occupational exposure. Br J Ind Med
1989; 46:515-520.
Wigle DT, Semenciw RM, et al.. Mortality study of
Canadian male farm operators: non-Hodgkins's lymphoma and mortality and
agricultural practices in Saskatchewan. Journal of the National Cancer
Institute 1990; 82:575-582.
Woods JS, Polissar L, Severson RK, Heuser LS, Kulander
BG. Soft tissue sarcoma and non-hodgkin's lymphoma in relation to
phenoxyherbicide and chlorinated phenol exposure in western Washington.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1987; 78:899-910.
Ritter L, For the Ad Hoc Panel on Pesticides and Cancer.
Report of a Panel on the Relationship between Public Exposure to Pesticides
and Cancer. Cancer 1997; 80:2019-2033.
Hardell, L., M. Eriksson, P. Lenner, and E. Lundgren.
1981. Malignant lymphoma and exposure to chemicals, especially organic
solvents, chlorophenols and phenoxy acids: a case-control study. Br. J.
Cancer. 43:169-176.
Well Mr. Helliker, Wouldn't it be something if the
people who "register" these POISONS will be held directly and
personally responsible for all of the damages their "registered"
POISONS create?
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten
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