Description
A selective herbicide in the chlorophenoxy class that is widely used by homeowners, lawn care professionals, and municipalities to kill broadleaf (non-grassy) plants, such as clover and dandelions. Mecoprop is applied primarily to lawns, sports turf, and golf courses, but can also be used on drainage ditch banks, roadsides and forests. Products containing mecoprop often contain other phenoxy herbicides. Mecoprop is also contained in some weed-and-feed fertilizer pellets.
Children may come into contact with mecoprop granules or pellets on home or school lawns that have been treated.
Health Effects
Immediate Health Effects
- If SWALLOWED, 2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid is Moderately Toxic
- If ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN, 2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid is Moderately Toxic
- If INHALED (SNIFFED OR BREATHED IN), 2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid is Moderately Toxic
Longterm or Delayed Health Effects
- This chemical is likely to cause cancer. It is considered a Probable Carcinogen by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or another agency.
- Development Toxicant = Can interfere with normal development of a fetus or child
Other
- Skin and eye irritation, resulting in redness, swelling, cloudy vision; direct and prolonged exposure to concentrated mecoprop can cause irreversible eye damage.
- Mecoprop can irritate the respiratory tract (lungs, nose, throat) and cause a burning sensation in the airways, coughing, dizziness and nausea.
- If swallowed, mecoprop can cause muscle weakness, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
- Other symptoms include confusion, aggressive behavior, kidney failure, increased heart rate and metabolic acidosis.
- Some (but not all) studies have found higher rates of soft tissue cancers and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans occupationally exposed to phenoxy herbicides including mecoprop.
- Mecoprop has caused miscarriage and birth defects in laboratory rats.
How Exposures Occur
Absorption Through Skin
- Children can be exposed to mecoprop if they touch soil or vegetation recently treated with a weed killer containing mecoprop.
Ingestion
- Mecoprop can contaminate drinking water. It is frequently found in stormwater samples. Water utilities are not required to test drinking water for mecoprop by the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.
Inhalation
- Children can inhale mecoprop during spraying, when spray drifts from neighboring lawns, or from particles tracked in from outdoors and embedded in carpets.
Occupational
- Children of farm workers and pesticide applicators are exposed to higher amounts of mecoprop and other pesticides, which can enter the home on clothing, shoes, etc.
Significant Statistics
Mecoprop readily runs off in soil, especially sand, and can be lost as run off.
Mecoprop. TOXNET. http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~9C3Bgp:1
About 1-6 million pounds are used annually, most of it on lawns, sport turf and commercial sod production.
Chemical Watch Factsheet: Mecoprop. Beyond Pesticides. December 1990. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/mecoprop.pdf
Mecoprop is soluble in water and mobile in land environments so it can easily find its way to surface water and ground water.
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for Mecoprop-p (mcpp). EPA. August 29, 2007. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/REDs/mcpp_red.pdf
Mecoprop is often mixed with other herbicides when formulated into a product for application.
Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for Mecoprop-p (mcpp). EPA. August 29, 2007. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/REDs/mcpp_red.pdf
Solutions
How to detect 2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid
- Approximately 95 products containing mecoprop are registered for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read labels, and request Material Safety Data Sheets before you or a lawn care professional uses any pesticide product around your home. You can also find out if mecoprop is an ingredient in your lawn products on the Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Database. Or, search for mecoprop in the National Library of Medicine’s Household Products Database to find a list of brands that contain it.
- Herbicide sprays can drift and damage or kill nontarget plants. If broadleaf plants near the edges of your lawn are drooping or turning brown, mecoprop may have been sprayed on a bordering lawn, golf course or road way.
How to minimize exposure to 2-(2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid
- If your child swallows this pesticide, contact a poison control center immediately.
- To avoid tracking pesticides into the house, where they can become embedded in carpets, always remove shoes at the door or wipe feet on a doormat before entering. Replace carpets with washable rugs. Mop floors frequently.
- Pregnant women should avoid all contact with mecoprop.
Alternatives
- Remove garden weeds manually, and use mulch, which is more effective than chemical herbicides, around garden plants to prevent weed germination. See also How to Kill Weeds Without Herbicides.
- Fostering a healthy lawn is your best defense against weedy invaders. For more information about how to accomplish this, consult the resources below.
- To avoid tracking pesticides into the house, where they can become embedded in carpets, always remove shoes at the door or wipe feet on a doormat before entering. Replace carpets with washable rugs. Mop floors frequently.
- Pregnant women should avoid all contact with mecoprop.
For More information
Books, articles, factsheets and reports
Cox, Caroline. "Managing Weeds at Home and in Our Communities," Journal of Pesticide Reform, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring 1997).
http://www.pesticide.org/managing.pdf
Johnson, David. Weed Management for the Lawn and Garden. Washington Toxics Coalition, May 2000.
http://watoxics.org/healthy-homes-gardens-1/factsheets/weeds/?searchterm=weed%20management%20for%20lawns%20and%20gardens
Cox, Caroline. “Taking Care of your Lawn without Using Pesticides.” Journal of Pesticide Reform, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Winter 2003).
http://www.pesticide.org/lawns.pdf
"Alternatives: Landscape Weed Control," Journal of Pesticide Reform, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Winter 1994).
http://www.pesticide.org/landscape.pdf
Cox, Caroline. “Pesticide Factsheet: Mecoprop (MCPP).” Journal of Pesticide Reform, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring 2004).
http://www.pesticide.org/mecoprop_MCPP.pdf
Other government agencies
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20460
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides
National Pesticide Information Center
Oregon State University
333 Weniger Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331-6502
800-858-7378
http://npic.orst.edu/
Nonprofit organizations
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
49 Powell Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-981-1771
http://www.panna.org
Other websites
Extension Toxicology Network, Pesticide Information Profiles
http://ace.ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/
Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Database
http://www.pesticideinfo.org
