A FEW MORE OF THE PURPORTED 4,000 2,4, 5-T RECORDS ON-LINE

At the end of Tuesday's (Dec. 30) posting I mentioned I'd be posting other records which supported serious health concerns around 2,4,5-T and Dioxin. Here is a bit of a mixed bag. I'll start with a June 7, 1972 letter from the Assistant District Forester, Vegetation Control, one E.J. Medicky. Mr. Medicky appears to have delusions of grandeur as he criticizes Mr. Zylestra, the Editor and Publisher of "This Week in the Madawaska Valley". The newspaper is located in Barry's Bay, Ontario.

Assistant Forester, Mr. Medicky is unhappy with an article in the newspaper titled "Spraying by Hydro may be dangerous". First off Mr. Medicky, while not mentioning his medical training, cheerfully diagnoses the multitude of health issues of Vietnamese civilians as having absolutely nothing to do with Dioxins. This from thousands of miles away. He then goes on to critique a 1965-1968 study done by Bionetics Research Laboratories, under contract to the Cancer Society. Apparently the Bionetics study alarmed both the U.S. and Canadian governments sufficiently enough that they put an upper limit .5 ppm on the concentration of 2,3,7,8 TCDD (Dioxin) which was in 2,4,5-T. This assures Mr. Medicky, makes it O.K. now for governments and Ontario Hydro to spray other human beings (not him) and property (not his).

Once again Ontario Hydro, six years later, are still lobbying for the continued use of 2,4,5-T at a council meeting of the Muskoka Lakes Council. The council had decided to withdraw permission for hydro to keep spraying in their area. Mr. F.A. Perttula talked about the costs involved to Hydro if they couldn't use 2,4,5-T. He also solemnly advised that "The toxicity of 2,4,5-T is only slightly more than aspirin". Another Hydro employee, Mr. Bryan Allen, inaccurately advised that 2,4,5-T would "break down in one year". Both the Council and some local residents seemed much more honestly informed on Dioxin issues than the senior Hydro employees. The writeup of the Council meeting was in the September 28, 1978 edition of the Beacon.

The Hamilton Spectator published an article in November 1969 titled "Herbicides declared dangerous". The article was based upon a recent study by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. There have also been several articles in the South Vietnamese press linking malformed babies to the U.S. spraying program. Costs to the U.S. pesticide industry if 2,4-D was banned were also mentioned.

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal carried an article on December 4, 1976 titled "Deadly Assignment" in which the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) suggested that they are planning on extensive testing of Dioxin however they are extremely concerned for their own safety during this testing. The previous day the Globe and mail (Toronto) also published a similar story titled "Deadliest known chemical to be tested if Ministry can ensure safety in lab". The previous July an explosion at a chemical factory in Seveso, Italy occurred which released Dioxin into the air. This has intensified concerns by scientists around the globe.

Finally to give an indication as to how slowly governments and industry reacted to the enormous health problems of Dioxins mixed in with pesticides and herbicides (including 2,4,5-T); it should be pointed out that Wikipedia claims that as early as 1952, Monsanto informed the U.S. government that Dioxins were a part of their 2,4,5-T. Also manufacturer Boehringer in 1957 warned other producers that the high tempurature process producing 2,4,5-T caused Dioxin formation and how they could avoid so doing.

Horrific birth defects, still births, miscarriages and so much more all to maintain profits of the chemical industry. And governments around the world sat on their hands and indeed some still do. Here in Elmira in 2015 we continue to flush 2,3,7,8 TCDD down the Canagagigue Creek with the full knowledge of the Ontario M.O.E. who continue to run interference for Chemtura Canada, formerly Uniroyal Chemical. And those two parties wonder why I hold them in such contempt.