New DuPont Herbicide Fine Print: Do Not Compost Grass Clippings Sprayed With Imprelis

[hatrack]

Oops.

Clopyralid, bifenthrin, aminopyralid. All of these agricultural chemicals have made headlines because they do not readily break down in compost. In some instances, they’ve been linked to major crop damage. In others, they’ve shut off commercial composters from some of their most lucrative markets. (See Table 1 for BioCycle coverage of these events, which started more than a decade ago.)

So when Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont began aggressively marketing a new post-emergent broadleaf herbicide to landscapers, lawn maintenance professionals and turfgrass managers — under the name Imprelis and containing the active ingredient aminocyclopyrachlor — some organics recyclers became concerned. (An “active ingredient” is that part of a pesticide or herbicide product which performs the desired action, in this case killing off broad leaf weeds.) The red flag wasn’t so much that the active ingredient sounded to the ear very much like other chemicals that have plagued the industry in recent years (and is in fact quite similar chemically). It had more to do with an ominous label restriction, which states:

“Do not use grass clippings from treated areas for mulching or compost, or allow for collection to compost facilities. Grass clippings must either be left on the treated area, or, if allowed by local yard waste regulations, disposed of in the trash. Applicators must give verbal or written notice to property owners/property managers/residents not to use grass clippings from treated turf for mulch or compost.”

This spring, Pennsylvania State University crop and soil scientist, turfgrass specialist and Extension agent Peter Landschoot, received a query from a commercial composter and landscaper in Pittsburgh expressing concern over the label. “I am hoping you can shed some light on the herbicide ‘Imprelis’ by DuPont and their composting restriction … Is this a public relations measure after the problems with clopyralid, or otherwise?” Landschoot, in turn, sent an email to DuPont global products development scientist Charles Silcox. “I’m curious to know if this is just a precaution because the herbicide can damage sensitive plants, or if you have data from actual composting operations that it does not break down as quickly or as completely as other broadleaf herbicides,” he asked. “Is the chemistry similar to clopyralid?”

EDIT

http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_free/002374.html

[shraby]

1. This is good to know..wonder if much of it gets into the

local community composting sites? Ours has one that accepts brush and grass clippings, the lets area residents get the black dirt for free.

[Wilms]

2. What? Are you trying to clearly think things through...or somethin'? n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I will not put chemicals on my yard at all.

[LiberalEsto]

5. Same here

The problem is with neighbors who insist on doing so. Then a few years later they wonder why they have cancer.

[msedano]

4. perpetuating decline of vocabulary, too

"verbal or written notice". damnit, writing is verbal. that means using words. what they want to refer to is speech, oral communicatiion. the ongoing decline of our language won't matter, though, when this noxious chemical wipes out backyard gardens across the nation. maybe even the vaunted white house garden. people will get the verbal treatment: ashes to ashes...

[pscot]

6. Unintentionally coded language

creates a lexical field shift. Imprelis contains the anagram Imperils, which explicitly contradicts the benign image Dupont would like to project. Assholes! :rofl:

[bvar22]

7. If the "active ingredients" won't "break down" in compost,

will they remain "active" in rainwater run off?
....and in the streams and rivers?

I would be afraid to raise children in today's mega-toxic suburbs,
or live there myself.

In 2006, we moved to The Woods, far from urban/suburban areas, agribusiness, and pollution.
We now Keep Bees, raise chickens, and grow a good percentage of our own food.
All pesticides, herbicides, non-naturally occurring fertilizers, and GM crops
are forever banned from our little hill top.
Our drinking and irrigation water comes from a Spring.
All are doing well,

but OMG, we have some weeds in our yard!!!
Quick...get some poison and spread it around where we LIVE and EAT!!!