But as you head out to the links this weekend, you should take a healthy dose of skepticism and common sense along with your clubs. While manicured greens and rolling lawns are not exactly virgin land, neither are they the Western equivalent of Eastern-block industrial sites. A well-designed, beautifully maintained golf course gives aesthetic pleasure, provides a habitat for animals and offers recreational and economic opportunities. Pesticides are necessary for the maintenance of a golf course's lush greenery and smooth playing surfaces. Pesticides also reduce allergenic pollen levels and keep the course relatively insect free, protecting golfers from mosquitoes and the ticks that carry Lyme disease.
Insecticides kill insects, fungicides kill fungi and herbicides kill weeds.
It is a serious error, however, to assume that because pesticides kill pests they are necessarily a threat to nontargeted wildlife or to humans. Furthermore, many pesticides and herbicides are relatively specific in their toxic effects. Under conditions of normal use, for example, phenoxy herbicides kill most broadleaf plants but do not adversely affect grasses, insects or rodents. A strictly defined system controls the development, distribution, promotion, handling, storage, use and disposal of pesticides. Before registering a pesticide, a manufacturer is required to do up to 120 different tests for toxicity and carcinogenicity.