My Neighbor died young CHEMICALS

Guys, We Just need to always THINK!!!, FIRST !,and when in doubt ? DON'T . My Neighbor Lady up the road a mile was only 66 ,and was as strong as any man to work with .. i learned this at the funeral home last nite .about 3 yrs ago .She had cleaned out the barn and basement of old chemicals and disposed of them in the woods not far from her house.. mostly it was old sucker dope , MH-30 or equal for tobacco ,. but she poured out other things in the same area, a day or so later .after a rain or a dewey morning i dont know which,she was nearly overcome by fumes ,.. it ruined her lungs and her liver was damaged ,.. at 1st she did, ok , but she just kept getting worse,. like a slow leaking ship that was sinking..And in the end, she literally suffocated . I had heard she had emphesema, And , i was confused as to why or how that happened ? because, I knew she was a non smoker in spite of raising 5 -8 acres of tobacco each year ///// our county has chemical and tire days every spring here,.,. sadly, even though she was a licensed chemical applicater for her farm use , she chose to think these chemicals she had used for years were" HARMLESS "and did not realize the possible danger of them mixing ,.,. I am guessing that there was some 2-4-d since it vaporized and actually came into the house thru open windows while she slept that night ..another neighbor brought in 3 dump truk loads of clay to cover it over ,,.. and i often wondered why they did that when i saw the dirt piles there..whether that fixed the problem we will never know ,, But It Killed Her ,,..

Wow,I don't know how she passed the test without reading the chapter on proper handling and disposal.

Reading and taking the test are a whole different thing than putting it into practice.

It's very likely that like many people, she believed that all that stuff in the books was "just EPA hooey," and "government exerting control over everyone's lives." How many of us have complained about the EPA in some form or another?

Unfortunately, the EPA showing up in full hazmat gear with a multi-million-dollar invoice any time a drop of oil hits the ground has many people not believing a word they say.

This is a complicated issue. Sad it cost a woman her life. When I got my epa certification they demonstrated what happens from mixing different regular chemicals you all probably have in your garage. I can't give examples due to the patriot act it would be considered domestic terrorism. The chemical mixing is a scary thing. It blows my mind that with all the crap the epa can do they can't offer free pickup of hazardous substances at least once a year. I really think if they would focus on this kind of program they would actually be able to do some good instead of just complicating everyone's life. Also I don't work for epa just have a federal training cert.

A lot of people used to claim it wasn't the tobacco that caused cancer it was the chemicals used on it,but in her case she got a dose of both over and over.You don't have to smoke tobacco to
get the bad stuff from it some studies say chewing is worse and no reason it can't be absorbed thru the skin.Either way I don't want anything to do with ag chemicals or tobacco and never could understand using tobacco in any form.

Thirty years ago, I got very sick from something. Took a long time and a lot of Doctors to figure it out.
Chemicals used in seed treatments was shutting my liver down.
Only this year has my liver gone back to normal. I have to be very careful around any chemicals and there are a lot of medicines I cannot use including most pain killers and certain antibiotics.
Richard

I think for every chemical produced another one should be to neutralize it. Just like baking soda and battery acid.

Sad story, things like that shouldn't happen. And yet there are so many on the planet who complain and dig their heels in against any kind of regulation or restrictions, etc. So many seem to know better than those who spend their lives studying the effects of all the pollution and dangerous chemicals and substances that we have come up with over the years. All I know is that the planet is still in salvageable condition thanks to those who really know of what they speak and are able to regulate and restrict despite the opposition from so many.

Her mess will probably contaminate every well in the county.

Around 40 years ago when farm chemicals were first getting popular, a 47 year old neighbor was hospitalized with an undiagnosed condition. All of his internal organs were simply shutting down. After a couple of weeks of going down hill in the hospital he died, and the doctors still didn't have a diagnosis.

Then other neighbors began telling stories of when the guy loaded up a sprayer, wearing only a T shirt, he'd stick his arm into the tank to stir up the chemicals and then take off across the field with the sprayer without even rinsing his arm off, let alone washing it properly. It didn't take long to put 2 and 2 together. Even though it cost that fellow his life, it was a great epiphany for the neighbors.

Problem is chemicals are in everything. While over exposure through improper handling is not good. I dont imagine light exposure over years is much better. Around here 7 out of 10 farmers over 65 have cancer of one form or another.

Yeah it can cost millions to clean up the soil and groundwater contamination of dumping pesticides especially some of the older ones. That over time could kill many more people if it gets in the aquifer.

my neighbor's brother is dying he served in Vietnam was exposed to agent orange which is said to be a cause of cancer.
another Vietnam vet once said to me Nam is going to kill us one way or another either there or here after we came home.

Some people badmouth all GMO seeds but I know of a lot of cotton farmers and their family members who expired mighty young back when the only boll weevil treatment was cyanide, some had it flown on but most broadcast and many put it on by hand for years plus breathing the fumes for weeks at time.

I'm ex Air Force, we're finding that JP-4 is almost as bad as agent orange for the crew chiefs and jet engine troops and all those young Airmen in Nam out on the flightline hanging iron on or humping F-4s to make 'em fly are having a much higher then normal incidence of skin cancer, seems they weren't much into sun screen or shirts back then

Apparently the manufacturing process of the time created some dioxin as a byproduct and the herbicides were thusly contaminated with it. Dioxin is one of the worst things out there. I remember reading somewhere that Dupont and/or Monsanto informed the government in the late 40's that they couldn't control the process well enough to prevent some Dioxin production.

Probably not great to be sprayed with and breathe vapors of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T (The two components of Agent Orange) just on their own accord; now throw in some Dioxin with it and there you go.

I found a bottle of parquart (agent orange) in the barn. Means Dad sprayed that stuff around in the 60's. I imagine it's not in the ground anymore by now. Need get rid of what's left somehow. Stan

Paraquat (Gramoxone today) is not Agent Orange. Apply per label directions is the best way to get rid of old chemicals.

Smoking and other use of tobacco products; not using seat belts; not using sun block; not wearing eye protection; not observing safe handling procedures for flammable liquids; not installing smoke detectors, or CO detectors; Not wearing breathing protection, not keeping safety shields in place; the list can go on and on and on. We are free to endanger ourselves as much as we want, and as we all know: young people are invincible, and will live forever. Pick your poison.

The difference is riding in a car has benefits so the risks are a trade off,I have yet to see any benefit from using tobacco except nasty spit,coughing etc and most people I know that
use tobacco are always whining about 'not being able to quit'.