A workshop on the use of pesticide on sports fields will be held at City Hall in Peachtree City Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 5:30 p.m.

The event will include experts from university departments and government agencies that study, regulate or monitor pesticide use.

The issue is being studied after complaints that several youth soccer players suffered adverse symptoms last year after they were exposed to a field that had been treated with pesticide. Two of the players eventually developed breathing problems and had to be treated at the emergency room.

The city’s pesticide contractor that sprays youth sports fields said that signs notifying of the pesticide treatment were placed at all but one soccer field, and that field without the sign was not the same field where the medical problems had been reported.

The city postponed chemical herbicide treatments for a time before deciding to split its normal application into two separate treatments to reduce the amount of chemical applied at any one time. The fields were starting to be taken over by weeds and officials worried that without any treatment, the weeds would take hold, causing a danger to the soccer players particularly from tripping.

login to post comments