From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-05-27 22:34:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Lawn chemicals?? Re: Re: Dandelions & Ferrets -- semi
on topic
Bruce, it's going to depend on the chemical compound. Not many years
back there was a newspaper story (think perhaps due a legal case but
can't recall details) involving a gent who died who had regularly
licked his golf balls and died of fungicide poisoning. A very wide
range of chemicals are used on landscaping and not all have short
lives. There is a lot of noise right now about some common
herbicides that last as long as three years and can be water-borne so
they are thought to possibly be causing problems in drainage areas,
there are also soil pH and nitrogen level concerns from fertilizers
which can accumulate in such locations. Anyone from the Agent Orange
Era recalls the concern about herbicides which might affect more than
plants. In addition, there are assorted categories of pesticides,
some very highly dangerous for extended periods of time, though those
have special restrictions such as burial at set distance from home
and at set depths. The dangers of one compound are going to vary
greatly from the dangers of another, so when an exposure occurs a
person has to find out how dangerous that specific item is going to
be. Think of the birds with thin egg shells, and the mammals with
micro-uterus linked to DDT. If I didn't know that the vegetation that
a ferret was interested in walking upon, digging up, nosing in, or
swallowing down was free of landscaping compounds I wouldn't take the
risk. I lost an anolis who adored me a great many years ago from
pesticide poisoning and learned the hard way (The lizzy had poor
taste in people, but was a great herp -- thought that I was his
alone and used to neck-flare at Steve in our courting days, which
isn't bad compared with what Maynard the chimp threw at Steve on
introduction).