Banned herbicide found in water on U.S. bases in U.K.

[unhappycamper]

Banned herbicide found in water on U.S. bases in U.K.
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, December 13, 2007

RAF MILDENHALL, England — Officials are working to figure out how a herbicide commonly used in the States but banned in the United Kingdom got into the water systems at four Air Force bases in England last month.

Dalapon, a herbicide that controls the growth of vegetation around crops, was confirmed Nov. 29 in the water supply systems of RAFs Alconbury, Molesworth, Menwith Hill and Croughton, according to a statement issued this week by the 501st Combat Support Wing, the unit that oversees the geographically diffuse installations.

The results were from an Oct. 2 test, and a public notification program began Friday, according to 501st spokeswoman Tech. Sgt. Kristina Barrett, who added that the water is safe for normal use.

“There’s absolutely no danger at all,” she said.

Dalapon is not known to cause any health problems when people are exposed to it for short periods, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50947



uhc comment: According to extonet,

http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/dalapon.htm

Environmental Fate:

* Breakdown in soil and groundwater: Dalapon has a low to moderate persistence in soil. It remains in the soil for 2 to 8 weeks <14>. Dalapon has residual activity in soil for 3 to 4 months when it is applied at high rates (22 kg/hectare) <9>. Dalapon does not readily bind to soil particles. In clay and clay loam soils, there may be no adsorption. Since it does not adsorb to soil particles, dalapon has a high degree of mobility in all soil types and leaching does occur. However, dalapon movement in soil is usually limited by rapid and complete breakdown of the herbicide into naturally-occurring compounds by soil microorganisms <12,14>. Dalapon is not found below the first 6-inch soil layer. Higher temperatures and increased soil moisture speed up degradation. At higher temperatures, dalapon can also be degraded by ultraviolet light from the sun <39>. In a national groundwater survey, dalapon was not found in groundwater <17>.
* Breakdown in water: In ponds and streams, dalapon disappears via microbial degradation, hydrolysis, and photolysis <12>. Microbial degradation tends to be the most active form of its breakdown in water. In the absence of microbial degradation, the half-life of dalapon, by chemical hydrolysis, is several months at temperatures less than 25 C. Hydrolysis is accelerated with increasing temperature and pH <39,42>.
* Breakdown in vegetation: Dalapon is absorbed by plant roots and leaves and moved (or translocated) within plants <9>. It tends to build up in the areas of greatest plant metabolic activity, such as developing seeds and in the tips of roots, shoots, and leaves. At high rates of application, dalapon precipitates out of solution as an acid, and has immediate and local acute effects on foliage <17>. It is easily washed off foliage. In addition to herbicidal activity, dalapon is a plant-growth inhibitor. Conditions of increased light and high temperature may cause nutrient solutions or soil applications of dalapon to build up in the tops of plants, via transpiration <17>.


Spectrum Laboratories reports

http://www.speclab.com/compound/c75990.htm

Dalapon is released directly to the environment in its use as a herbicide for the control of annual and perennial grasses. If released to soil, microbial degradation and leaching appear to be the important environmental fate processes. Dalapon leaches readily in soil; however, under conditions favorable for microbial growth, microbial degradation will probably proceed at a faster rate than leaching. In the absence of microbial action, dalapon degradation in soil is slow. The resultant average persistence of dalapon at recommended rates of application has been reported to be two to four weeks in most agricultural soils during the growing season, although a persistence of six months has been observed in soils of various forests and tree nurseries. If released to water, microbial degradation, hydrolysis, and photolysis are potentially important in the removal of dalapon. The hydrolysis half-life of dalapon and its salts in water is on the order of several months at temperatures less than 25 deg C, with the hydrolysis forming pyruvic acid. Under conditions favorable for microbial growth, dalapon decomposition via microorganisms will probably be complete within one month which will diminish the importance of chemical hydrolysis. Direct photolysis in water may be possible, although photolytic rates have not been investigated under environmental conditions. Aquatic volatilization, adsorption to sediments, or bioconcentration are not expected to be significant. If released to the atmosphere, dalapon will react in the vapor-phase with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals at an estimated half-life rate of 72.3 days. Atmospheric removal via washout may be possible since dalapon is extremely water soluble. Occupational exposure to dalapon may occur through dermal and inhalation routes associated with the formulation and application of dalapon herbicide.

[MADem]

1. Check the exchange, see if they're selling ROUNDUP there in the garden center! nt

[unhappycamper]

2. in today's Boston Globe:

White House pressured EPA on toxin reporting, audit says
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press / December 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - The White House pressured the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken requirements that companies annually disclose the release of toxic chemicals, congressional auditors say.

The changes mean that industry will have to file 22,000 fewer reports each year, reducing an important public monitoring tool on industrial emissions, the Government Accountability Office says in a report.

The EPA rushed to complete the changes because of "pressure" from the White House Office of Management and Budget to reduce the regulatory burdens on industry, the study says. The White House overstated the cost-savings to industry of making the changes, it added.

"The EPA administrator expedited the process in order to meet a commitment to OMB," which had pushed to reduce the paperwork burden on industry by the end of 2006, the GAO said.

For more than two decades, industries and businesses have had to disclose to the EPA the amount of toxic chemicals they produce, store, and discharge. Communities, watchdog groups, local neighborhoods, and the Internal Revenue Service have used the data.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/13/white_house_pressured_epa_on_toxin_reporting_audit_says/