Our Asheville pet safe lawn care is effective at creating beautiful lawns while keeping your family safe. There is a large amount of information out there that lawn pesticides are harmful to pets (as well as humans and wildlife). From traditional weed killers to toxic insecticides, it all plays a role in making your dog sick. Dogs tend to be the pets that come into contact the most with harmful lawn pesticides, but other outdoor-loving pets are just as susceptible to negative health risks. All evidence, from studies or pet owners, tells us that lawn pesticides and pets don’t go together.
A study published in 2013 showed that herbicides can be detected in a dog’s urine after lawn treatment. This proves that the chemicals do in fact make their way into pets’ systems after they are applied on the lawn. Also, the study explains why exposure to herbicide-treated lawns is known to be associated with higher bladder cancer risk in dogs.
If you have pets, it’s important to keep the toxicity of pesticides in mind when making a choice about lawn care. Pets are particularly susceptible to the effects of lawn pesticides because they are very much in the lawn while outside. Most dogs spend hours laying, playing, and rolling on the lawn. Dogs are directly exposed to the chemicals on the lawn, and can even ingest those chemicals by licking their skin or paws.
Keep in mind that your pets are exposing you and your family to these toxic chemicals, as well. Even if you and your kids are staying off the lawn for days after it’s treated, your dog is likely bringing the pesticides into the house. Similarly, if you sit or lay in an area where he has been, you are being exposed to the pesticides that were sprayed on your lawn.
Plus, lawn pesticides can easily disperse through your house even without a pet tracking them in. In fact, a 2001 study showed that even a week after lawn treatment, 2,4-D was detected on all indoor surfaces. The study also found that children were up to 10 times more likely to be exposed to this harmful pesticide in the week after treatment than they are the week before treatment. Even if your pets and children are avoiding contact with a pesticide treated lawn, you still could be exposed through chemical drift.
Unlike synthetic lawn treatments, organic treatments focus on the health of the soil. Healthy soil grows healthy plants. Healthy soil is encouraged with high-quality organic treatments that feed the soil. Unfortunately, not all organic lawn products are equal. Clean Air Lawn Care organic lawn products, for instance, are custom-created in-house to address common mineral, enzyme and microbiota deficiencies commonly found in the soil of grass lawns.
Feeding the soil real, organic ingredients like those found in our products results in a lush, green lawn that is also healthy. Healthier lawns have fewer weeds, and therefore don’t require the use of harmful pesticides.
Of course, herbicides used to kill weeds are some of the worst culprits when it comes to health hazards. On top of organic fertilizers that make a healthier lawn with fewer weeds, organic weed control is an option! There are many non-selective, certified-organic weed controls out there. But in order to get selective weed control that is organic, choose a Clean Air Lawn Care treatment service.