herbicides

Shah borrowed $2,000 from a local trafficker, promising to repay the loan with 24 kilos of opium at harvest time. Late last spring, just before harvest, a government crop-eradication team appeared at the family’s little plot of land in Laghman province and destroyed Shah’s entire two and a half acres of poppies… “I never imagined I’d have to pay for growing opium by giving up my daughter,” says Shah…”It’s my fate,” the child says.

MassHighway is planning to use toxic herbicides to control weeds along roadsides across the state. These chemicals, Oust Extra and Accord Concentrate, have been linked to health risks such as blurred vision, eye soreness, anemia and reproductive development problems. This map shows which cities and towns are being sprayed, and which highways are affected. Also included is a link to sign a petition to stop the spraying.

More homeowners are turning to natural yards, as the industry matures, learns and expands. Studies have found that people exposed to pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of Parkinson ’s disease, while golf course superintendents have high cancer rates. Now, there are many more options for homeowners to go organic gradually.

Environmental groups launched a public campaign to urge state officials to stop applying toxic herbicides for vegetation control along state roadways. Members of the Massachusetts Coalition for Pesticide Reduction maintain that herbicides, which the state resumed using in 2003, are harmful to people and the environment.