Using the LD50 measurement of safety to humans, the new pesticide Enlist Duo is more than 10 times safer than caffeine, so why are daytime talk show hosts and newspaper columnists calling this a “dangerous” product?

The United States is the greatest country in the world.  The right to free speech should never be undervalued.  However, with free speech also comes a lot of non-factual speech.  Enlist Duo is a good example.  Enlist Duo is nothing more than glyphosate and 2,4-D.  Real new, right?  The only thing new about it is the type of 2,4-D is choline.  If you look up the word choline the first thing that will pop up is that it is a nutrient essential for human health.  Sounds pretty dangerous, doesn’t it?

Here are the key things you need to know about the safety of Enlist Duo (glyphosate plus 2,4-D choline):

  1. The LD50 (lethal dose) is 2500 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.  For comparison, the LD50 of caffeine is 200 mg/kg, meaning it would take over 12 times more Enlist Duo to kill you than caffeine.
  2. Glyphosate works on an enzyme found only in plants.  Humans don’t even have that enzyme, so its health risk is minimal.
  3. Many people confuse 2,4-D with Agent Orange.  Agent Orange was only harmful because it got contaminated with dioxin, and that has absolutely nothing to do with 2,4-D.
  4. While Enlist Duo is, relatively speaking, pretty safe to humans, it is still a pesticide, so always follow labeled uses and wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
  5. 2,4-D choline has almost no volatility and less drift than the old 2,4-D.  In other words, it’s a big improvement.

The real question here is why would members of the media want to scare people into thinking that a new crop protection product is incredibly dangerous, when in reality it is pretty safe?

Whether it’s biotech crops, crop protection products, or other technology commonly used on farms, the basic theme is people fear what they don’t understand.  In the last 3 generations, America has gone from almost one-third of people involved in agriculture to where we are today at less than 1%.  There is a big disconnect between farmers and non-farmers, and that’s something we need to continue to try to change.

The other issue we have in America today is a growing culture of blaming others instead of looking at where the real problem lies.  For example, people say that biotech crops and crop protection products are to blame for obesity, cancer, and many other health issues.  Instead, the more likely causes are lack of exercise, poor diet, and a number of other bad choices most Americans are making.

My summary here is two-fold.  First, Enlist Duo is actually safer than almost any other pesticide, so using it instead of something else is helpful rather than harmful.  Second, it’s up to all of us in agriculture to get the facts and share them with others.  If we don’t, we’ll continue to see misinformation leading to bad public perception of farmers, even though we produce the world’s safest, cheapest, and most abundant food supply.