Weed B Gon 2,4,5TP [Silvex] and Dioxins

[Richard Alexander <ra@alexanderlaw.com>]

Two weeks ago EPA reported on prime news that it had conducted a test of 
herbicides and found that the level of contamination found INSIDE homes 
after outdoor spraying was TEN to ONE HUNDRED times stronger than what 
was found outside.  Brought in on shoes and by pets, the floor and carpet 
concentrations were astronomical and readily picked up by children from 
direct dermal contact as well as orally.  In fact the video portion of 
the story showed four babies crawling on the floor and mouthing every 
toy, thoroughly.

That media report by EPA and the report of 10-100 times greater 
concentrations inside is indeed sobering when you know the following.

On my webpage you wil find a case report concerning Joe Pickering who 
died from a soft tissue sarcoma - very rare in a 40 year old - as a 
result of being exposed to dioxin heavy "Weed B Gon" manufactered by 
Chevron under the Ortho line of products.  The actual chemical in Joe's 
case was 2,4,5 TP or silvex which was loaded with dioxins.  Although we 
litigated this case in 1995, we located and tested cans of Weed B Gon 
found in garages in South San Francisco Bay's Santa Clara County where 
they had been sitting for 20 years.  We were able to time date the 
products based on Chevron's label numbers and confirmed that the products 
we tested had been bottled in 1972-74.  It contained 2 4 D and 2, 4, 5 TP 
[silvex] and was loaded with dioxins.  Because of that testing we were 
able to successfully conclude that legal claim for Joe Pickering.

This is not the first case in which we have found "archive" samples of 
chemical carcinogens sitting on garage shelves.  We successfully followed 
the same protocol in our leukemia cluster in Northern California where we 
proved that dioxin laced pentachlorophenol was the cause of four 
leukemias in employees of a small lumber mill.

The Weed B Gon on the store shelf today is a much different formulation 
than what was sold in the past, but the untold story is that Weed B Gon 
using silvex was sold across the U.S. through 1980 and it was heavily 
contaminated with dioxins and furans.  

Gardeners who regularly used the product and therefore had a chronic 
exposure are progressing towards a time when soft tissue sacrcomas, 
leukemias, and Non-Hodgkins Lymphomas, among others, may be presenting.   
The latency period is on the order of 10 to 20+ years.  That's what we 
learned from Seveso.

The sad fact is that many who will get these diseases may never learned 
that they are suffering because of chronic toxic expsoures that occurred 
years ago.  

That silvex is dangerous is confirmed in EPA's regulatory file on the 
product that was the focus of regulatory action.  I have been to EPA and 
have read most of this file.  The industry fought regulation very hard 
and for many years, but then in the late 70s simply gave up, and EPA 
banned 2,4,5 TP from public use.  Obviously the time and money spent in 
fighting regulation allowed the company to clear its shelves of 2,4,5 TP 
or else ship it all offshore.

The public needs to know that the old can of Weed B Gon on the back shelf 
in the garage may be loaded with dioxins.  

The public also needs to know that the family gardener who used Weed B 
Gon for years who now has been diagnosed with  soft tissue sacrcoma, 
leukemia, or Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma must take legal action at the earliest 
possible date in order to avoid having their legal rights barred by the 
passing of their state's statute of limitations. 

If anyone has any suggestions for the best forums for sharing this 
information, please share it with me.



Cordially,

Richard Alexander

The Alexander Law Firm
55 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113
408.289.1776
408.287.1776 fax
http://consumerlawpage.com