Len wrote: > Regarding the recent discussion of the Bayer Rose and Garden insect > spray, Merit and Marathon are now illegal in a number of counties in > New York State state my nearby plant nurseries. I don't know the > reason for this, but assume it may get into the ground water.
> Len Henschel I know that there have been a number of chemicals that have been deemed unusable on Long Island (but still can be used in the rest of the state), for just the reason you point out. Being fairly sandy in composition, the soil of Long Island permits fairly rapid transmission of 'stable' chemicals and it's been determined that imidicloprid can travel into water supplies. I don't think it is banned from use by nursery or greenhouse (among other types of growers) but the restriction may just be for home use chemicals. I think the volume of use of products containing imidicloprid was found to be quite high so that there needed to be a use restriction. It is definitely allowed to be used by 'upstate' wholesale greenhouse growers, since we are allowed to purchase and use it, but I had heard that home use products weren't going to be allowed to be sold anymore (except for maybe the pet products which have very limited quantities) because of the risk of the large volume of potential runoff. Like all or at least most other chemicals that have been placed on 'banned' lists, if you still have it or can get it legally from a source, you can still use it until it's gone. Imidicloprid itself isn't really 'dangerous' in comparison to many other chemicals in relation to safety during proper usage, just that it can migrate to water supplies under certain conditions more easily than other chemicals. regards, charles -- Charles Ufford Oriskany, NY USA IPA, Central NY and Southern Tier Orchid Societies www.cnyos.org www.geocities.com/charlesufford _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
