It is understandable that golfers might be concerned about what sort of dangers they might be exposed to on the golf course after pesticides are applied to control disease or insect pests.Still, despite the presence of a spray rig cutting a path along a fairway, a 2012 study conducted by researchers at Cornell University shows that a panel of pesticides commonly used on golf courses throughout the country present no carcinogenic hazards to golfers who might inhale lingering vapors in the hours and days following application.
The study measured the toxic effects of 37 chemicals commonly used on golf course greens, tees and fairways in climatic regions across nine states.
Health risks were measured by a complex calculation that estimated a golfer's lifetime average daily dose of inhaling vapors from a height of 1-2 meters during the course of a round of golf once per day over a 70-year period.
The findings of the research conducted by Hywel Wong and Douglas Haith, which were published recently in the Journal of Environmental Quality, could go a long way in helping the turf management industry dispel myths about some of the low-risk, low-use rate chemistries that proliferate today's market.
The researchers wrote that several of the chemistries studied displayed high volatilization levels (or a substance's ability to disperse as vapor), yet none present chronic health risks to golfers. The hazard quotient associated with all chemicals in the study was less than 1:10,000, while the cancer-causing risks of 10 chemistries in the study thought to be carcinogens was less than 1: 100 million. Researchers noted that anything that carries a cancer-causing risk of more than 1:1 million is considered unacceptable in the scientific community.
In the 2012 Cornell study, volatilization levels of some chemistries varied by location, which researchers attributed to weather patterns and application procedures. At least 22 of the 37 chemistries in the study showed negligible volatilization. The remaining 15 chemistries displayed volatilization rates ranging from 0.2 percent to 10.4 percent during typical annual applications
Chemistries studied were: (herbicides) 2,4-D, benefin, carfentrazone-ethyl, clopyralid, dithiopyr, fluroxypyr, isoxaben, mecoprop-p, oryzalin, oxadiazon, pendimethalin, penoxsulam, prodiamine, rimsulfuron, sulfentrazone, sulfosulfuron, triclopyr; (fungicides) acibenzolar, azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil, cyazofamid, fludioxonil, iprodione, mancozeb, myclobutanil, propamocarb-hydCl, propiconazole, thiophanate-methyl; (insecticides) acephate, bifenthrin, chlorantraniliprole, halofenozide, imidacloprid, indoxacarb, permethrin, thiamethoxam.
Some chemistries in past studies have proven to be dangerous in field studies, and research has played a valuable role in some being removed from the market. Some of those active ingredients that have been shown to be dangers in the field, such as ethoprop, diazinon and isazofos, no longer are registered for use in turf, and nine of the 15 chemistries in a 2007 study by Haith and Rebecca Murphy no longer are registered by the EPA for use in turf.