Lawn-care companies, applicators

Estimates are that 5,000 employees of lawn care companies created SZ of Che 80 million lawns in Che USA in 1980. Pesticides most used include preemergent grass weed, broadleaf weed and insect control pesticides. Applicators applying these pesticides are exposed for periods of six to eight weeks. Heasurements made Co determine exposure showed long term exposure resulted in very low levels of pesticide inhalation. Also, pesticide concentrations reaching the... 

Professional applicators, especially those companies or franchises of any size, rely on their own independent distribution and formulator companies. One such firm, Lesco, distributes lawn care products to apphcators, golf course managers, and other professionals. Their products reach 130,000 such companies and clients worldwide, using innovative distribution networks, including not only traditional service centers but mobile sales and service units. 

These lawsuits and settlements have been joined by more recent allegations of unfair and deceptive trade practices and violations of other codes. Applicators have been found in violation of do-not-call phone advertising restrictions, for example. TruGreen Chemlawn also recently settled with the State of Pennsylvania over allegations that the company added unnecessary surcharges for lawn care services, jacking up prices surreptitiously over time. ... 

Surveys of professional lawn chemical applicators were conducted during the summer and fall of 2004. Subjects recruited included participants in Ohio State University s OARDC (Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center)-sponsored turf care professional educational seminars (Northeast Ohio Lawn Care Seminars). Approximately 300 professionals attended these events (held at the Wooster campus of Ohio State) to inform practitioners of best management practices, new technology, and health and safety issues. Participants included those who own and work in the lawn care industry in Ohio, spanning companies from small, one-person owner operated firms to large franchised national outfits. Professionals attend these seminars for purposes of certification participation in the survey was optional. 

Write an advertisement that explains why Company A s lawn care product (fertilizer or weed killer) works better than the competition s because of the smaller sized granules. Include applicable diagrams. 

Zahm, S.H., Mortality study of pesticide applicators and other employees of a lawn care service company, J Occup Environ Med, 39, 1055-1067, 1997. 

---