Greenside APR 2015 Low Res

Feature
Chemistry 101
B y J o h n R e i t m a n
It is understandable that golfers might be concerned about what
sort of dangers they might be exposed to on the golf course after
pesticides are applied to control disease or insect pests.
Still, despite the presence of a spray
rig cutting a path along a fairway, a
2012 study conducted by researchers
at Cornell University shows that a panel
of pesticides commonly used on golf
courses throughout the country present no
carcinogenic hazards to golfers who might
inhale lingering vapors in the hours and days
following application.
The study measured the toxic effects of 37
chemicals commonly used on golf course
greens, tees and fairways in climatic regions
across nine states.
Health risks were measured by a complex
calculation that estimated a golfer's lifetime
average daily dose of inhaling vapors from
a height of 1-2 meters during the course of
a round of golf once per day over a 70-year
period.
The findings of the research conducted
by Hywel Wong and Douglas Haith, which
were published recently in the Journal of
Environmental Quality, could go a long way
in helping the turf management industry
dispel myths about some of the low-risk, lowuse
rate chemistries that proliferate today's
www.gcsai.org
market. The researchers wrote that several
of the chemistries studied displayed high
volatilization levels (or a substance's ability to
disperse as vapor), yet none present chronic
health risks to golfers. The hazard quotient
associated with all chemicals in the study was
less than 1:10,000, while the cancer-causing
risks of 10 chemistries in the study thought to
be carcinogens was less than 1: 100 million.
Researchers noted that anything that carries a
cancer-causing risk of more than 1:1 million
is considered unacceptable in the scientific
community.
In the 2012 Cornell study, volatilization
levels of some chemistries varied by location,
which researchers attributed to weather
patterns and application procedures. At least
22 of the 37 chemistries in the study showed
negligible volatilization. The remaining 15
chemistries displayed volatilization rates
ranging from 0.2 percent to 10.4 percent
during typical annual applications
Chemistries studied were: (herbicides) 2,4-
D, benefin, carfentrazone-ethyl, clopyralid,
dithiopyr, fluroxypyr, isoxaben, mecoprop-p,
oryzalin, oxadiazon, pendimethalin,
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penoxsulam, prodiamine, rimsulfuron,
sulfentrazone, sulfosulfuron, triclopyr;
(fungicides) acibenzolar, azoxystrobin,
chlorothalonil, cyazofamid, fludioxonil,
iprodione, mancozeb, myclobutanil,
propamocarb-hydCl, propiconazole,
thiophanate-methyl; (insecticides) acephate,
bifenthrin, chlorantraniliprole, halofenozide,
imidacloprid, indoxacarb, permethrin,
thiamethoxam.
Some chemistries in past studies have
proven to be dangerous in field studies, and
research has played a valuable role in some
being removed from the market. Some of
those active ingredients that have been
shown to be dangers in the field, such as
ethoprop, diazinon and isazofos, no longer
are registered for use in turf, and nine of the
15 chemistries in a 2007 study by Haith and
Rebecca Murphy no longer are registered by
the EPA for use in turf.
This article is kindly reproduced
courtesy of TurfNet.com