Sluggo Not so safe after all???

I found this thread in the Hosta forum. Very interesting info.

Hostas: Iron Phosphate Slug Baits - Warning!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1067325/

I've always been a bit leery of "safe" killers. I do have a slug problem, especially around my emerging dahlias and ligularias. My first line of defense is a solid circle of sand and morning tours with the salt shaker. Has anyone had luck with copper?

I lined one set of beds completely with the copper tape. It worked pretty well for a while, but somehow or other over time I've ended up with slugs in there anyhow. Not sure if they used parachutes, tunnels, or the copper got dirty. ;) (Probably dirty copper or they rode in on a plant without my realizing it, but imagining the parachutes is more fun-kinda-sorta. Guerrilla Slug Para (plant )troopers has a bit of a scary ring to it...)

Still, it does seem like there might be fewer of them in there (or I'm deluding myself so I don't think about how much $$$ I spent on copper tape, lol!)

I've also always been leery of the non-toxic claims and only tested a light dosage in one small area last season. It's too bad that the Sluggo has turned out to be more toxic than thought, though. :-/

LOL Susy on the slug parachutes!!

I'm going to put it in covered containers if I choose to use it this year. I don't want to risk harming the wildlife or domesticpetlife. In the past I have mostly sprinkled it in the pathways of my vegetable garden and only minimally in the beds themselves. I guess it is back to hand picking them and dumping them in a bucket of soapy water which I then deposit across the driveway by the edge of the woods.

There is something kind of therapeutic about the morning slug patrol, though.

I pay for slug picking. My younger kids earn their "fun" money that way at a nickle a piece. It's a contest to see who finds more. I figure a couple of years of this activity at the beginning of the year and I won't have too many to pick myself. I don't pay an allowance so this is good for all of us. They usually stop after about 6-8 weeks but by then combined with ammonia/water, we've done a fairly good job.