We (heart) 2,4-D — so does your lawn and the Vietnam vets whose lives were saved by Agent Orange.
CNN reports:
The Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit Thursday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over 2,4-D, a widely used ingredient in broad leaf weed killers.
The NRDC went to court with the agency over its alleged failure to respond to a petition calling for the EPA to stop licensing the use of 2,4-D, which was one of two ingredients in the toxic Vietnam war herbicide Agent Orange.
“It’s really time to connect the dots with this chemical and be much more cautious about its use,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at NRDC. “Right now it’s used in widespread fashion on people’s lawns, back yards, playgrounds, ball fields and soccer fields, where kids are getting it on their skin. That’s a particular problem.”
The EPA does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman Dale Kemery said…
Maybe you should have visited this website http://www.landscaper.net/agent.htm before you opened your mouth and proved your ignorance. The military used 10 different herbicides and they used a lot of Agent Orange which contained both 2,4,5-T & 2,4-D. Our troops could have been exposed to any or all of these herbicides and NO ONE knows what the effects would have been!
The words in the article, “Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist at NRDC” tell the entire story. She has a medical degree from Yale and has been at NRDC for 15 years. There is no indication that she has ever practiced medicine.
AO was a cocktail of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.
Agent orange was a 50:50 blend of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. Agent orange also contained the dioxin 2,3,7,8-TCDD, likely derived as mentioned above from the synthesis of 2,4,5-T. The EPA labeled TCDD the most toxic molecule known to man, largely on its ability to kill guinea pigs. The toxicity of TCDD was demonstrated by the poisoning of the Ukrainian president a few years ago: he got a severe case of chlor-acne. 2,4.5-T was used for many years on food crops and other agricultural applications because of its effectiveness and low toxicity. We used it on our farm and I’m not aware of anyone suffering from this evil chemical. 2,4-D seems to be a pretty effective herbicide on my lawn. I’m not aware of any problems from years of use, but then I’m sure I don’t know nearly as much as folks like the NRDC and other environmental purists. I’ve never been convinced that the evils attributed to Agent Orange are no more than hype. I don’t believe we see the same things from folks who made the components. Real, or myth, being a component of Agent Orange certainly gives the enviro’s a big, scary handle.
PS. I didn’t have any formal environmental education. I’ve had to get buy for 3 decades with a doctorate in organic chemistry and the ability to read. Completion of the Army’s Chem Officer Advanced Course didn’t help much.
I hope their lawyers like to work for nothing. I guess the NRDC has another big donor that needs their money wasted. And who is this Dr. Solomon, another overemotional dumb B***d with totally dumb conclusions. The presumed culprit in agent orange was chorodioxins. Note I use the word “presumed.” Dioxins a byproducts of some methods of synthesis of 245 T, not 2-4 D. I guess they stopped teaching chemistry in environmental courses.
@ GreggM:
What a moron you are and Agent Orange was 2,4,5-T not 2,4-D. Go peddle you hate someplace else.
Dolts like you whither in the face of truth and you always will. Slime your way back to The Daily Kos or some other far left libtarded lie rag.
I have worked with BOTH of these herbicides and 2,4-D is very safe and has been used safely for years. 2,4,5-T should not have been banned in my own humble opinion and got a bad rap from the rabid war hating mongers of the left.
You are an insult to those who serve and especially to those who given their all for this country, even for the likes of you.
Troll, We’re not discussing 2,4,5-T, we’re talking about 2,4-D, two totally different chemicals completely. If you had two functioning brain cells to rub together you’d already know that. Even with 2,4,5-T, the effects were not nearly as bad as portrayed by the anti-American left, who won the Viet Nam War, resulting in the deaths of almost 25 million Southeast Asians. But of course, facts are certainly NOT your strong suit, are they?
Dr. Solomon obviously does not have a PhD in chemistry otherwise she would know that Agent Orange is the common name associated with 2,4,5-T and was taken off the market in the US decades ago. 2,4-D is a herbicide that has been around for decades and has been a friend of agriculture.
How about those vets who have been permanently damaged by it? Or all the South Vietnamese who are still suffering the aftermath with birth defects and cancers? But that’s right, since the streets aren’t full of bodies, they don’t matter!
We’re used to them putting animals above humans. Now weeds.
And very anti-human. Wonder how they’ll explain away all the starvation from implementing their policies?
This is a pre-emptive move against US agriculture. Scientists are working on developing crops resistant to 2,4-D. This would allow farmers to control weeds that have developed resistance to other herbicides. If they ban 2,4-D, this research will go down the toilet and farmers will have one less tool for producing food. It’s all too easy to forget that the greenies are actually very smart.