OCR Text |
Show 2,4-D DOES NOT HARM COWS In continuing their studies of the new' weed killer known popularly popu-larly as 2,4-D, U. S. Department of Agriculture scientists sprayed a pasture with about double the quantity recommended for weed control. Cattle and sheep grazed the treated pasture readily, the Bureau of Plant Industry," Soils, and Agricultural Engineering reports. The animals showed no symptoms of discomfort or illness, ill-ness, and post-mortem examination examina-tion of slaughtered cows reveals :no unusual conditions caused by the 2,4-D. The experimenters fed to one cow a dailv dose of 5.5 grams of 2.4-D (about a fifty of an ounce dailv) for more than three months without harming her health. They found that this cow carried a' solution of 2.4-D in her blood serum, but did not secrete 2.4-D in her milk. They conclude that pastures sprayed for weed control are not likely to be harmful to livestock, or to people who eat meat or milk" from sprayed pastures. This experiment was with the pure 2,4-D. The experiments warn that these results "do not pre-elude pre-elude possible toxic effects of commercial preparation of 2,4-D that may contain impurities or constituents other than those used in this experiment." |