"Agricultural workers die all the time using heavy machinery. If the increased risks from chemical exposure were similar in magnitude they would show up in epid

"Agricultural workers die all the time using heavy machinery. If the increased risks from chemical exposure were similar in magnitude they would show up in epidemiological studies (which have been done)." The heavy machinery that you speak of is used for a great many other things than simply weed/foliage control. So aren't you going to have that infrastructure, and those risks, regardless of what you do with your weeds ? The more serious problem with this line of reasoning is that the risks of the machinery are confined to the people doing the work, whereas the (possibly much smaller, but less understood) risks are potentially borne by the entire population around their use. What if your neighbors don't share your risk analysis ?