Chemlawn LIES about the SAFETY of the CHEMICALS they
use.
What a joke.
Chemlawn Lies:
Lie #1
Chemlawn states that they evaluate products based on
"Weight of Evidence Analysis":
However, many of the ingredients in the chemical products they use do not
have "Weight of Evidence" analysis attached to them. There are question
marks.
So basically Chemlawn is flying blind on many chemicals they use and we are
all their unwitting guinea pigs. BUT --there is NO ENTITY tracking
human and or animal illness in relation to most or all these products!!!
"Weight of Evidence Analysis" From Chemlawn site:
PRACTICALLY NON-TOXIC, MY ASS!
So, we must assume they use products that are SAFE because Chemlawn's scientists
said so?
Apparently the scientists "considered" the risk and decided making money
was more important than SAFETY!
If you pay these scientists enough money --they'll say anything you
want!
Chemlawn Claims:
Notice the light pink highlight:
We assure these products are applied safely according to federal, state
and local regulations.
Re: My case. Chemlawn got their wrists slapped by MDA for NOT applying
safely.
Notice the light green highlight:
"THE SPECIFIC PRODUCTS APPLIED TO YOUR LANDSCAPE
ARE DETAILED ON YOUR INVOICE WITH EACH TREATMENT".
That's a total misrepresentation, here's what happened to me. I called Chemlawn
right after the guy left and I was furious. My first question to them
was "WHAT CHEMICAL WAS SPRAYED ON MY LAWN? BECAUSE I CAN'T READ THE
RECEIPT. MY DOG JUST CAME IN CONTACT WITH FRESHLY SPRAYED PESTICIDES!" (I
also asked why the hell they were even there as I had no scheduled appointment.)
The receipt the sprayer left me:
1) Contained missing information.
2) The information that was on the receipt was illegible.
Let's play, "Guess the chemicals Chemlawn used in Robin's
yard!" Come on, it will be fun! It should be easy, because Chemlawn
says they give you DETAILED
receipts!
See Receipt from April 3rd,
2006
See Receipt
from August 30, 2006
See Receipt from October
3, 2006
Six months after this incident (March 2007) Chemlawn was given a "Warning"
by the MDA over my case. That's a mere slap on the wrist, because on the
receipt he was supposed to write, WHERE he sprayed (front yard?, side
yard?, backyard?) and the square footage the chemical was applied to in my
yard. He did neither. That means, the bosses at Chemlawn do not even check
the receipts of the sprayers to find out ANYTHING --basically "HOW
MUCH PESTICIDE THEY USED, AND WHERE THEY USED IT".
The girl who answered the phone, Nicole said:
"Yeah, we usually can't read their writing either". QUOTE UNQUOTE.
Gee, that's reassuring. NOT! Furthermore, she had no access to those
records, as they don't put chemicals used on your property in your file on
their computers. She said had to go look for actual paper receipts to find
the information and she'd call me back. (She didn't.) I had to call several
more times about this issue. Finally, I called Chemlawn back again on October
17, at 2:06pm, and Nicole answered again. I said "I have to know
what chemicals Moose came in contact with! Please look this up for me! I
am not going away until I find out!"
Nicole finally did call me back 20 minutes later, apparently the
sprayer was in the office. She said she had to have him decipher his
handwriting since she couldn't read it, either.
She said:
"H is for TRIPOWER which is: MCPA, Mecoprop, Dicamba
4 is liquid ammonium phosphate (fertilizer)"
(NOTE: I write detailed notes every single time I get on a phone call with
any company. I keep notes in Outlook Express, therefore they
have a date stamp on them.)
It was like pulling teeth from an elephant to find out what chemicals Chemlawn
used in my yard. I finally found out on October 17th, 14 days after
the incident.
Therefore I take issue with Chemlawn's claims that they give you
"detailed" receipts.
So people, check your receipts and realise that if that information is missing
from YOUR receipts, Chemlawn has broken a STATE LAW. (At least that's the
law in Maryland.) Check your local Department of Agriculture. State D of
A's are who licenses these types of companies and they are who you file your
complaints with. I called the EPA, first, then they handed me over to the
state.
Lie #2- CARCINOGENS
Chemlawn states above that they WILL NOT use chemicals that contains
known or PROBABLE carcinogens.
Is there a major difference between the words PROBABLE and
POSSIBLE?
These two words are in fact synonymous with each other. (Look it up!)
Indicates
high toxicity in the given toxicological
category.
? Indicates no "available weight-of-the-evidence"
summary assessment.
That sure leaves A LOT of questions, doesn't it?
Lie #3 "Groundwater":
We do not approve products known or thought likely to
leach to groundwater when applied to lawns."
I would say that Ground Water Contamination that has a "POTENTIAL" to leach
into the ground water means the same as "thought likely". In other
words, if something is 'thought likely' to happen, it has that
POTENTIAL!
Furthermore: Chemlawn makes this statement:
Chemlawn states:
"THESE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN LESS THAN 10% OF THE PESTICIDE APPLIED IS
DISLODGEABLE AFTER THE
APPLICATION HAS DRIED"
OK, Chemlawn, why isn't this rather important question answered on
your website?
What if there is contact with fresh, WET pesticides? (Such as
in OUR case.) What is the risk? How dislodgeable
is it? And why is this IMPORTANT information NOT listed on
YOUR WEBSITE?
From Chemlawn site
You
know these yellow flags sticking out in yards all over the land? Chemlawn
says they are NOT Warning Signs! I'll bet if we took a random
poll, 100% of the people would identify this sign as a pesticide "WARNING
SIGN".
Furthermore, if it's "safe" after it dries, which is supposedly stated as
around 2 hours, why leave the sign up for 48 hours? Isn't that
OVERKILL? I know, bad pun.
This is what I don't get. Chemlawn wants us to stay off the grass for
as long as possible, even though they state the pesticides are not dangerous
and are "practically non-toxic".
If the products are "practically non-toxic", what is the fear? What is it
that we are staying away from?
"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... it's a
duck!"
Chemlawn, you cannot have it both ways.
From the
ASPCA:
In July and August 2005 the center received over
925
calls about herbicides. A large number of
those calls were owners concerned about letting their pets walk in an area
that was treated with weed killers. While many weed killers are safe for
pet traffic once dry, the center urges pet owners to contact the manufacturer
for specific recommendations about using herbicides around pets. Additionally,
it is important to always store pesticides in areas that are inaccessible
to pets.
In two months, 925 people call the ASPCA and paid the ASPCA $55.00
to make a pesticide contact report. That's $50,875.00 dollars spent by
individuals to report cases.
April 30, 2004 -- Statistics compiled by the ASPCA Animal Poison
Control Center (APCC) confirm that June, July and August are the most dangerous
time of year for companion animals. According to 2003 data, the center
received approximately 8,800 calls in July, making it the month with
the highest volume of cases for the year. The data found that over 4,300
(48%) of the cases involved animals being exposed to pesticides. This
includes commonly used insecticides (flea and tick products), rodenticides
(mouse and rat baits) and herbicides (weed killers).
That's $484,000 received to ASPCA in phone calls during the summer
of 2003.
Can you imagine how many actual cases there were --that were not reported
to the ASPCA? Would YOU spend $55.00 to make a report?
I probably would have if I had found that site in time. I called the EPA
and they turned me over to MDA, I was going by a lot of their information.
They did not steer me to ASPCA. I repeatedly said to MDA and my Vet, that
I could NOT believe there was no way to test for pesticide exposure and shocked
that NO ONE was doing any research on the matter.
(When this site is finished and online I will pay and call and see exactly
what services the ASPCA has available to concerned pet owners.)
Plus, I was more concerned with looking up things to keep Moose alive like
diet and medicines for Liver/Kidney failure.
My two biggest Google searches at that time regarding the actual poisoning
were
"pesticide poisoning" and
"chemlawn poisoning" and
"chemlawn poisoning in dogs" and
"dogs poisoned" --none of those searches bring up the
ASPCA. ASPCA, you need to add to your meta tags!
Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20.
