Abstracts

PETREE, J. 1988. High stakes. Am. Nurseryman 167(12):43-45

Put bluntly, you are making a big mistake if you ignore OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard. Noncompliance can easily be a terminal mistake for your business, putting management and the company’s existence at risk for decades. With such high stakes, this is one set of rules you had better pay attention to. In essence, the new law requires that all employers develop hazard communications programs. To comply, you should implement the following steps: Inventory all chemical products in your workplace. Label all hazardous chemical containers. Keep Material Safety Data Sheets in an area where they are immediately available in an emergency. Identify and train employees who could be exposed to hazardous chemicals. Develop and maintain a written program that explains how employees are informed and trained about the hazardous chemicals in their workplace.

HOLMES, F.W. 1988. Nematodes and shade trees. Arbor Age 8(6):26-27.

Some nematodes are parasites on higher plants or animals. Others are free-living in soil or water. Many feed on plant rootlets. Some even enter the roots and dwell there. When that happens, the nematodes may cause small galls or dead spots on the roots. They also may cause the root system to grow much more slowly than usual, or even to die. By harming roots, nematodes often cause stunting, decline, or death in above-ground parts of plants. In recent years, the pinewood nematode has also been found in the xylem vessels of certain trees. The relationship of nematodes to shade trees is in an unexplored, experimental stage. Shade-tree research scientists are happy to have opportunities to test for the presence of nematodes in samples taken where shade trees are symptomatic. But they seldom can say for sure whether even the nematodes they find in such samples caused any of the symptoms, nor can they suggest much in the way of treatment.

• © 1989, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.