DuPont Charged With Tree-icide

Figure 1: Tree-icide

The news broke on July 14th.  DuPont’s Imprelis®* herbicide is the prime suspect in a series of tree deaths, the main victims being eastern white pines and Norway spruces.  Owners of these conifers are pointing the finger at DuPont, but is Imprelis® to blame?

Washtenaw Acquisition LLC , Polo Fields East LLC  and Polo Fields Golf & Country Club LLC certainly think so.   On the same day the tree-icide story hit the news, the golf and polo group filed a federal class action lawsuit.

The chemical at the center of this legal drama is 6-amino-5-chloro-2-cyclopropyl-4-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid, known by its chemistry nickname ‘aminocyclopyrachlor‘.  Perhaps thinking aminocyclopyrachlor was too long and not sexy enough, DuPont dubbed it Aptexor™.

DuPont’s Imprelis® herbicide contains aminocyclopyrachlor and its potassium salt (Figure 2).   Like other herbicides, aminocyclopyrachlor severely inhibits or kills undesirable plants while leaving the desired ones (mostly) alone.  The undesirables targeted by aminocyclopyrachlor are various broadleaf weeds and bushes, such as those listed here (page 1).

Πηγή: http://scientopia.org/blogs/guestblog/2011/07/18/dupont-charged-with-tree-icide/