comparison in a situation that can be easily understood. In the tables below are comparisons of the most common active ingredients used in amenity products to everyday chemicals that form the background of domestic life. The figure for comparison is the LD50.
A chemical’s LD50 is a specific measure of the compound’s toxicity. The higher the LD50 figure the less toxic a chemical is, the lower the more toxic. A good place to start is with herbicides. Roundup is the worlds most widely used herbicide. Its active ingredient - Glyphosate is regarded as having a clean and harmless environmental profile. So I’ll compare this to things you might eat with a normal meal.
Active ingredient
Common Name Chemical name Glyphosate
Salt
Black Pepper Piperine oil Vinegar
*As in the Biactive brand
Most people season their food. I’m not suggesting you put glyphosate on your chips as a healthy alternative to salt, but it puts things into a healthy perspective when you consider that pepper is potentially ten times more toxic than the ingredient that makes Roundup work. Fungicides are a vital part of the maintenance of high performance fine turf. Protection from turf diseases is essential as part of planned maintenance. They prevent scarring and improve the consistency of fine turf. For the next comparison Chlorothalonil is compared to some everyday household medicines for headaches aches and pains.
countryside, golf and parkland. The voluntary initiative was set up five years ago to improve practices and raise standards in agriculture. Horticulture and amenity need to address concerns held by the Government about the levels of pesticides being found in water. The Governments favoured option was to impose a tax on pesticide sales to try and reduce their use. It was pointed out very successfully that taxation would not change the behavior that causes water pollution, but education, implementing best practice and improving professional standards would. This approach was successful from the start. The Voluntary Initiative met, or exceeded, the objectives set for it by Government. The Voluntary Initiative is now in its fifth year. It has been agreed with DEFRA that it will keep on going with its projects, on a two year rolling basis, to achieve local level improvements to water quality and biodiversity through implementing best practice at a local level.
Now, professional standards are being improved through training such as continued professional development. This is required for NRoSO registered sprayer operators and professional BASIS advisors. This continued training ensures that both operators and advisors are up to date with what is the best practice. With the Voluntary Initiative success and the improvements in wildlife biodiversity it could be expected that some of this good feeling might be spread - that use of these tools called pesticides may be going in the right direction. For all the progress with improved product technology,
increased biodiversity, and raising professional standards for advisors and operators it seems that communication of these achievements has been limited. We should be proud within our industry of making this progress, but shouldn’t this step in the right direction be used to change public perception too? The combined efforts of all those involved with the Voluntary Initiative actually staved off the Government’s desire to gain a useful extra revenue stream from pesticides. It seems that perception by the public has not moved on or changed. Perception is everything. Many of us use herbicides and fungicides in public access areas as part of the palette of tools that we use to provide a great green environment or provide the playing surface needed for sport. Do these tools, despite their perceived noxious nature, actually pose a risk to the users of the golf course, park or rugby pitch? As part of the discussion the risk posed can only be assessed using information that gives a fair
Active ingredient
Common Name Chemical name Chlorothalonil Chlorothalonil Aspirin
Salicylic acid Paracetamol Acetoanilide LD50
(if swallowed) 4200 891 800
Hazard rating.
Harmful Harmful Not rated
Chlorothalonil will help remove Fusarium and Red Thread
from turf, but will not help with over indulgence at the weekend. The last comparison I feel is the most profound. Insects are resilient. They have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to survive. It takes a robust treatment to control them and prevent the damage they can wreak on fine turf. Chlorpyrifos is widely used as a last resort to help preserve turf that has had years of effort invested into it. How many Pitchcare readers would think that Chlorpyrifos is gram for gram less toxic than the nicotine in a cigarette?
Active ingredient
Common Name Chemical name Chlorpyrifos Chlorpyrifos Tobacco
Nicotine LD50
(if swallowed) 300-500 50
Hazard rating.
Harmful Toxic
Nicotine is six to ten times more toxic than Chlorpyrifos. It is also worth noting that Nicotine is approved as a pesticide product too. It is used on green salads and potatoes to control insects. How many readers knew that tobacco contained one of the most potent pest control agents currently approved? It should put smoking that fine Havana cigar on New Year’s Eve into clear high-risk behaviour!
LD50 (if swallowed)
N-phosphonomethyl 5000+ glycine
Sodium Chloride 3000 514
Ethanoic acid 3310
Non hazardous* Irritant
Toxic, Corrosive Hazardous, Irritant Hazard rating.
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