California Today: Cancer Worries Over a Common Weedkiller

The City Council voted 5-0 to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides, making Irvine not only the first city in Orange County to eliminate these chemicals from the landscaping plan, but also the first city in all of Southern California to adopt an organic, integrated pest-management program, which eliminates the use of synthetic pesticides, such as Roundup and 2,4 D, under all circumstances and incorporates manual removal, weed whacking and, if necessary, the use of organic pesticides as a means for weed abatement.

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But Non Toxic Irvine didn't stop after its win with the city. The group's most recent accomplishment is equally as monumental. Last month, the IUSD decided to adopt fully organic landscaping practices. Prior to this, the school distict had only agreed to stop using Roundup and 2,4 D, but it was still using other highly toxic pesticides. "I'm the type who follows regulations, so I always promoted what the EPA has approved," says Hoffman. "But what Non Toxic Irvine opened my eyes to is the fact that just because the EPA says it's safe, [that] doesn't mean it is."

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