In a bizarre, barely-believable irony, a lawn-care company mistakenly doused MEC Health Policy Director Tess Karwoski’s lawn and garden with pesticides Sept. 14, prompting a flurry of media coverage and a half-hearted apology from the company.

The irony—at the same time sad and shockingly funny—is that Karwoski is one of the state’s leading advocates of alternatives to pesticides in schools, agriculture and lawn care products. She heads the Michigan Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, has testified at legislative hearings about the issue and served on numerous committees working to draft rules governing the use of such chemicals.

But those credentials didn’t keep a workman for TruGreen ChemLawn from snaking a hose past Karwoski’s “Pesticide Free Zone” sign into her back yard; applying myriad chemicals before posting his own “Keep Children and Pets Off” warning sign next to the Pesticide Free sign.

Too late, Tess ran from the house demanding answers from a startled young man, who proceeded to endure a lecture about the dangers of pesticides to his health, including his sexual health and his yet-to-be conceived children.   

“He had tears in his eyes when I was done,” said Karwoski. “I don’t know whether he was scared for his future or scared of me!”

TruGreen apologized publicly, but insisted it was simply following the terms of a contract Karwoski had with a smaller lawn-care firm that TruGreen had recently acquired. That contract—cancelled months earlier by Karwoski—entailed lawn aeration and sprinkler system maintenance. Not fertilizers or chemicals.

“I am terribly upset by the experience but see it as a moment that can be used to explain to people that the types of chemicals routinely applied by these companies have been linked to cancers, reproductive problems and hormonal damage,” Karwoski said. “The companies are required to post danger flags warning homeowners to protect their children and pets from such chemicals. That should be a tipoff: these chemicals are not safe. And, in most instances, there are safer alternatives that are just as effective at maintaining green lawns and gardens.”

According to the Washington DC-based advocacy group Beyond Pesticides, of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 19 are carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are irritants, and 11 can disrupt the hormone system. Pregnant women, infants and children, the aged and the chronically ill are at greatest risk from pesticide exposure. A new scientific study released in March 2006 shows that children are 65 to 164 times more sensitive than adults to some pesticides.

Karwoski’s misfortune was covered by the Ann Arbor News, Detroit’s daily newspapers and FOX-2 television in Detroit. It later appeared in several publications across the nation, including “News of the Weird”-type compilations of strange tidbits.

For more information about healthy, toxic-free lawns, visit:Beyond Pesticides:    
www.beyondpesticides.org
Collaborative on Health and the Environment:     www.protectingourhealth.org
Pesticide Action Network of North America:     www.panna.org