ALL AROUND | Random Musings

JUST HOW TOXIC ARE GOLF COURSES?

by bungalow101 | ALL AROUND, Random Musings | 0 comments

Several years ago, one of my friends was relocating near me & I was guiding her in choosing a house to purchase. Many properties were viewed & rejected & we finally found one online that looked promising.

When we went to view it, we saw that it was across the street from a golf course. I was concerned about this, especially because she had a young daughter with a genetic, neurological condition. My friend had always been very attentive in ensuring that the home environment was kept free of toxins. She cleaned with vinegar, used fragrance free products & bought organic foods.

I suggested that she should call the golf course & ask the management for information on the chemicals they used. Their response was alarming. They told her that they employed 2 men to drive around in golf carts, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, spraying pesticides & herbicides & fungicides. 80 hours a week of toxic spray near a residential area. Suddenly the backyard pool looking out onto the golf course didn’t look so appealing.

Below are links to articles containing information on the ecological dangers that golf courses pose to our environment. I have also included a couple articles that discuss responsible stewardship. It is my opinion that the activism stirred by the current Florida protest be continued to advocate for more thoughtful maintenance of our existing courses.
I am not an authority on toxins, hence the links so that you can read the complete articles. I am not going to give you a pre-digested summary but will include quotes from each one which I think express its vital points. There are also links to videos, most heartbreaking being the one that tells a son’s story of his father’s death. The dad had been the groundskeeper of a golf course. He died from cancer after years of exposure to pesticides, herbicides & fungicides.

I am focusing on golf courses because there is a great deal of data on the toxins that they use & of course, golf courses have the greatest area on which to use them. However, I doubt that the usage for a resort hotel would be much more comforting.

READ THESE ARTICLES & WATCH THE VIDEOS

Carolina Turf- Organic Lawn Care
Are Golf Courses Exposing You to Toxins?
“Pesticides and herbicides can have dire consequences on non-target species. Birds, amphibians, and beneficial insects can suffer from direct exposure or by consuming contaminated food sources.”

Beyond Pesticides
Pesticide Dangers at Golf Courses Much Higher in the U.S. Than in Europe, Study Finds
Defined:
Hazard Quotient (HQ): a ratio of pesticide exposure to a chemical’s toxicity. High hazard quotients indicate high risks to human health, while lower numbers indicate less risk. Such a model only captures the acute effects of pesticides, and not chronic impacts, but can nonetheless provide important data about pesticide dangers.
“The highest single HQ for a golf course was found in Florida at 40,806.” Compare Norway at 64.

VIDEOS

I have curated a handful of short videos that provide more information on environmental toxins. This playlist is varied & covers such topics as environmental destruction & potential harm to humans, both long & short terms.

Because golf is a sport that is dying, there are many abandoned courses. These dead courses are often an invitation for more development. Read about this threat here.

Please read the accompanying article about the current proposal to annihilate Florida’s parks. The article contains links to sites that provide more information & invite your easy-to-do action. Several are survey sites. I encourage you to raise your voices in defense of our parks.