2,4-D

General Information

• Beyond Pesticides 2,4-D ChemWatch Factsheet
• 2,4-D product names
• Chemical Class: Phenoxy herbicide
• Uses:Registered For field, fruit, and vegetable crops, turf, lawns, rights-of-way, aquatic sites, forestry applications, post-emergence broadleaf weeds, plant growth regulator in citrus
• Alternatives: Agriculture, Lawns/broadleaf plants
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health Effects

• EPA Acute Toxicity Class: III - IV (slightly toxic to practically non-toxic)
• Cancer: Yes (4)
• Endocrine Disruption: Probable (5)
• Reproductive Effects: Yes (6)
• Neurotoxicity: Yes (7)
• Kidney/ Liver Damage: Yes (7)
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: Yes (4)
• Birth/ Developmental Defects: Yes (4)

Environmental Effects

• Detected in Groundwater: Yes (4)
• Detected in Streams: Frequently (37)
• Potential Leacher: Yes (7)
• Toxic to Birds: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Fish/ Aquatic Organisms: Yes (8)
• Toxic to Bees: Yes (4)
• Toxic to Mammals: Not documented
• Long-Range Transport: Not documented

Additional Information

• Regulatory Information:
  • EPA Reregistration Eligibility Document (RED) signed (6/2005)
  • Beyond Pesticides' RED comments.
• Supporting information:
  • Daily News Blog entries (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Asthma, Children and Pesticides (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Children & Lawn Chemicals Don't Mix (Beyond Pesticides)
  • The Safer Choice (Beyond Pesticides)
  • NCAP 2,4-D Factsheet (Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides)
  • Extoxnet 2,4-D Factsheet (Extension Toxicology Network)
  • PAN Pesticides Database: 2,4-D (Pesticide Action Network)
• Key Studies:
  • Herbicide exposure and the risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish terriers, Glickman, et. al. 2004. Journal of the American Medical Association.
  • Pesticides in Household Dust and Soil: Exposure Pathways for Children of Agricultural Families, Simcox, et. al. 1995. Environmental Health Perspectives.
  • A Case–Control Study of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Exposure to Pesticides Journal of the American Cancer Society, 1999.