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Re: METHOPRENE



You make good points. My reply is that better someone be on the 
fence than spraying indiscriminately. IPM is a step in the right 
direction, if not the ultimate solution, and perhaps can teach 
farmers to BEGIN to work with, not against, nature .
I admire your advocacy of more difficult but lasting solutions. 
Keep on..
DC

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Conner
Center for Rural Studies
207 Morrill Hall, UVM
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-3021
FAX: (802) 656-0776
dconner@zoo.uvm.edu

On Thu, 6 Feb 1997, Andrew Byrne wrote:

> On page five of the "DECEMBER 1996, ACRES" (we receive ACRES a couple of
> months late in Australia),  there is a brief comment involving DEFORMED
> FROGS.  It suggests that "methoprene" may be the culprit.  As a
> veterinarian,  I dispense litres of flea spray with methoprene in it,  I was
> told it is "as safe as houses",  along with the pyrethrin that accompanies
> it.   I am very concerned with the way in which this product,  and many
> others are used;  spraying the household pet,  often by the young owners,
> with the spray being inhaled by everyone in the room.   
> 
> Could someone please provide me with some more concrete references involving
> the detrimental effects of methoprene or like substances?
> 
> As a student studying sustainable agriculture,  I am also concerned with the
> way in which these "insect regulators" appear to be bantered around as
> saviours of our environment,  by decreasing "pesticide" usage.   
> 
> If I look at how Integrated Pest Management has just been introduced to me
> as a student,  it seems that the whole concept of IPM seems to be a
> potential springboard for any chemical company that wants to develop a
> "clean"/"green" image.   To legitimize a chemical all the manufacturers have
> to do is formulate some type of "environmental management" process along
> with the usage of their "target specific chemical",  and we're all supposed
> to think its OK to use the chemical.   I personally think that IPM,  as it
> has been described to me,  is too easy and doesn't seem to encourage
> producers to strive hard enough for "chemical free produce".
> 
> As a veterinarian I drive myself crazy attempting to formulate ways in which
> producers can use little or no veterinary chemicals in their work.  It is
> always much easier to lean on the "quick fix needle" or "insecticide" when
> solving a problem.   If the cop-out of the "target-specific" chemical is
> always there then most of us probably will not strive that little bit
> further to fing a chemical-free solution.   I just feel that by definition
> IPM is a little too much like "sitting on the fence" for my liking.
> 
> 
> 
> Andrew Byrne
> 8 Splatt Street
> Swan Hill. 3585.
> Australia.
> 
> 


References: