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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 35 no. 4. 22 March 1972
What should be Done?
What should be Done?
1. In view of the grave risks, aerial application of 2,4,5-T should be banned forthwith where there is any danger of exposure of humans.
| (a) | the main real need for aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T is on back blocks hill country where it should be possible to control rigidly the spraying on any but completely still days, and beyond a radius of many miles from any people; |
| (b) | there may well be risks of deformed and/or dead lambs. After all, it's not much use to kill gorse and blackberry it the object of producing live sheep is defeated; |
| (c) | the high doses of 2,4,5-T which are needed to kill gorse ere, according to a Department of Agriculture expert on herbicides, deadly to clover! He sees this in fact as a major economic loss to the country. Furthermore, research on persistence of 2,4,5-T in soil has shown that even in hot moist countries it remains at very significant concentrations after two months; in New Zealand, the figure might be of the order of a year. |
| (d) | It is farmers' babies who are probably being maimed by 2,4,5-T. |
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Dow routinely conductsanimal feeding studies as part of toxicology research on herbicides. Rabbits (New Zealand White) are used in some experiments
Chemical Structures:
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2,4,5-T
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"dioxin" (2,4,5-T - tetrachiorodibenzo-p-dioxin)
2. The Agricultural Chemicals Board at present is mainly made up of users and producers of chemicals. Several scientists should be added.
3. There is a 50% subsidy to the manufacturer (recently introduced). This tends to encourage use of chemicals rather than burning or slashing, and should be replaced by selective financial aid to those farmers who, in the judgement of competant advisers, must use agricultural chemicals.
4. New statutes should be passed to prohibit use of agricultural chemicals in ways which endanger the public health. (At present, farmers and home gardeners are free, under perhaps some pressure from chemicals salesmen, to use dangerous kinds and amounts.)
5. The government should support research into possible poisoning of animals and people by inhaled sprays of 2,4,5-T and other chemicals.
| "Nature" | 226 | 309 | (April 26 1970) |
| "Nature" | 231 | 210 | (May 28 1971) |
| "Nature" | 231 | 438 | (June 25 1971) |
| "Nature" | 232 | 365 | (Augusts 1971) |
| See also "Science" | 173 | 313 & 610 | (23 July & 13 August 1971) |
"Want to Help?
This article is mostly a summary of the scientific section of the petition which was recently presented to the Ag Chem Board by the Environmental Defence Society, a group of scientists, town planners and lawyers which will be considering court action against the Board if it does not act to protect people from 2,4,5-T. To support the EDS, join it: $5 (students $1) to P.O. Box 8, Auckland.