How Safe is Your Lawn? Organic Lawn Care, Lead in your Backyard, and the Safety of Astroturf
We spend a lot of time on our organic lawn. Not only does the green grass provide a psychological respite to the dry, hot summer, but it also provides our home with forest fire protection. In other more urban areas experiencing drought conditions, many people are seeking alternatives to a living lawn, such as astroturf. Whatever your families choice for a lawn (or not to have a lawn), the safety of this play surface for your children should be a concern.
Pesticides and Herbicides in Lawn Care
As child growing up in suburban Ohio, I remember seeing little flags on my neighbor’s chemically treated lawn that read “Just fertilized. Keep pets and children off”. Even at a young age, I wondered how safe these chemical applications were. According to Mother Jones:
One common herbicide in popular “weed and feed” lawn-care products, 2,4-D, constituted about 50 percent of Agent Orange, and has been linked to birth defects, neurological problems, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and liver and kidney damage. In Canada, as many as 160 municipalities have banned the use of pesticides with 2,4-D.
