The Environment

Neither 2,4,5-T nor the contaminant TCDD in the product persists or accumulates in the environment and they do not occur in either food or drinking water. They can only be detected in the environment at the locations where 2,4,5-T is sprayed for a short period of time after application. As applied in commercial formulations, TCDD has been found to have half-life on vegetation of 6-8 hours due to ultraviolet degradation.

All of our research and all of our knowledge continue to demonstrate that 2,4,5-T is not hazardous to human or animal life under normal conditions of use and even under conditions of substantial misuse. Despite the claims of EPA in its emergency suspension, there still is no documented instance of human injury' from normal uses of 2,4,5-T (containing trace amounts of TCDD) because humans are not exposed to toxicologically significant amounts. The 6-7 million pounds of 2,4.5-T used in the US each year contain between one and eight ounces of TCDD and it is spread over five million acres. We should be able to understand this low hazard because we know that carbon 'monoxide in auto exhaust is extremely toxic yet we control the hazard by limiting our exposure.