Fairways of Hazard: The Hidden Dangers of Golf Courses on Health and Home
By Benoit Tano, MD PhD
Golf has long been celebrated as a relaxing, elegant, and healthful pastime. But beneath the pristine greens and manicured fairways lies a hidden world of toxic exposures, chemical hazards, and serious health risks that most players, families, and communities have never been warned about.
In this groundbreaking, eye-opening book, internationally recognized physician-scientist Dr. Benoit Tano, MD PhD exposes the truth about pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and chemical adjuvants routinely sprayed on golf courses worldwide-and the devastating toll they take on players, caddies, maintenance workers, and residents living in golf course communities.
Drawing from EPA, IARC, ATSDR, CDC data, cutting-edge epidemiology, and hidden insights known to less than 0.01% of researchers, Fairways of Hazard uncovers:
The cocktail of chemicals on every course: glyphosate, 2,4-D, dicamba, paraquat, chlorothalonil, mancozeb, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and more.
How golfers are exposed: through dew-soaked grass, hand-to-mouth contact, inhalation of pesticide drift, and residue track-in on shoes and pets.
The real health consequences: cancers (lymphoma, leukemia, melanoma, brain tumors), neurological diseases (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's), endocrine disorders, asthma, infertility, miscarriages, kidney disease, thyroid dysfunction, obesity, diabetes, and more.
Hidden risks for families: why children, women, and seniors living near golf courses face elevated risk of chronic disease.
Golf course communities unmasked: the toxic truth behind "luxury golf living" and property developments marketed as safe havens.
Environmental destruction: pesticide runoff poisoning fish and amphibians, pollinator die-offs, water contamination, soil degradation, and climate impacts.
Little-known truths: chemical adjuvants and "inert ingredients" that amplify toxicity, long half-lives of pesticides in indoor dust, biomarkers that reveal hidden exposure, and global inequities as banned chemicals are exported to developing nations.
Solutions and hope: the rise of organic golf courses, safer turfgrass alternatives, biological pest control, eco-friendly irrigation, and how communities can demand reform.
With 20 meticulously researched chapters on chronic diseases, chemical adjuvants, and global inequities, Fairways of Hazard is the definitive guide to understanding the hidden dangers of golf. It combines hard science, compelling case studies, public health data, and practical solutions, making it essential reading for:
Golfers and their families
Residents of golf course communities
Healthcare providers and environmental health professionals
Policy makers, regulators, and legal experts
Environmental activists and community leaders
Dr. Tano not only exposes the truth but also offers a path forward: how to protect yourself and your family, reduce risks, and support the transition to organic, toxin-free golf courses that protect both health and the environment.
