Warning Against Spray Hazards

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30568, 10 October 1964, Page 8

Warning Against Spray Hazards

An aerial operator, Mr W. J. Hart, suggested this week that farmers sowing choumoeiiier crops that they might subsequently want sprayed for control of aphides should consider the location of these crops in relation to the possible dangers to human beings and livestock when they were sprayed. Mr Hart said that when potentially dangerous organophosphate sprays were used, far too many of these crops were grown close to houses so that the sprays could contaminate water supplies and be a danger to human beings. Where there was a possibility, he said, farmers should consider sowing these crops away from homesteads and also where there was freedom from trees and power lines that could be a hazard for aerial work. Sometimes, Mr Hart said, he had seen children run out alongside a paddock to watch it being sprayed and he had had to stop work to ensure that they went away. This was a loss of valuable time when spraying could only be done when there were calm conditions. Quite apart from that, these chemicals were not only contact killers, but also had a systemic action so that they could be absorbed by the skin. They had a tendency to vaporise as they were dropped and might be wafted beyond the coniines of the sprayed area. Adults,

too, had approached paddocks when he had been working. Mr Hart said that on mixed farms stock was frequently grazing on a paddock next to that to be sprayed. Farmers moved this stock when they were warned, but it was probable that there was a danger in grazing this pasture for about six weeks thereafter if there had been drift—as could happen when a light breeze sprung up as spraying was in progress. He said that if the manufacturers of the chemical said that their material would be effective for six weeks there was every reason to believe that any drift would also render a pasture unsafe for grazing for the same period of time. In such circumstances, Mr Hart said, there could also be a danger of contamination of a neighbour’s pasture. He should also be warned where there was any likelihood of this happening. A prudent course would be, where possible, to grow such crops away from boundary lines. Apart from this problem, Mr Hart said, aerial operators were becoming increasingly concerned at the lack of adequate bins adjacent to strips to keep fertiliser dry and the unsatisfactory nature of some farm strips. Wet fertiliser and poor strips were an unnecessary additional hazard to agricultural aviation.