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Re: Roundup information



John A. Keslick, Jr. wrote:
> 
> Support organic farmers!!!!
> 
> Ten reasons to "NOT" use roundup.
> 
> Compiled by Caroline Cox, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
> Pesticides- (NCAP)
> 
>         Roundup, and related herbicides with glyphosate as an active
> ingredient, are advertised as products that can "eradicate weeds and
> unwanted grasses effectively with a high level of environmental
> safety."
> However, an independent, accurate evaluation of their health and
> environmental hazards can draw conclusions very different from those
> presented in the ads.  Consider these facts:
> 
> 1.    Glyphosate can be persistent.  In tests conducted by Monsanto,
> manufacturer of
> glyphosate-containing herbicides, up to 140 days were required for
> half
> of the applied glyphosate to break down or disappear from agricultural
> soils.  At harvest, residues of glyphosate were found in lettuce,
> carrots, and barley planted one year after glyphosate treatment.
> 2.     Glyphosate can drift.  Test conducted by the University of
> California, Davis, found that glyphosate drifted up to 400 meters
> (1300
> feet) during ground applications and 800 meters 12600 feet) during
> aerial applications.
> 3.     Glyphosate is acutely toxic to humans.  Ingesting about 3/4 of
> a
> cup can be lethal.  Symptoms include eye and skin irritation, lung
> congestion, and erosion of the intestinal tract.  Between 1984 and
> 1990
> in California, glyphosate was the third most frequently reported cause
> of illness elated to agricultural pesticide use.
> 
> 4.     Glyphosate has shown a wide spectrum of chronic toxicity in
> laboratory tests.  The National Toxicology Program found that chronic
> feeding of glyphosate caused salivary gland lesions, reduced sperm
> counts, and a lengthened estrous cycle (how often an individual comes
> into heat).  Other chronic effects found in laboratory tests include
> an
> increase in the frequency of lethal mutations in fruit flies, an
> increase in frequency of pancreas and liver tumors in male rats along
> with an increase in the frequency of thyroid tumors in females, and
> cataracts. (ne fruit fly study used Roundup; the other studies used
> glyphosate.)
> 
> 5.     Roundup contains toxic trade secret ingredients.  These include
> polyethoxylated tallowamines, causing nausea and diarrhea, and
> isopropylamine, causing chemical pneumonia, laryngitis, headache, and
> bums.
> 
> 6.     Roundup kills beneficial insects.  Tests conducted by !he
> International Organization for Biological Control showed that Roundup
> caused mortality of live beneficial species: a Thrichgramma, a
> predatory
> mite, a lacewing, a ladybug, and a predatory beetle.
> 
> 7.     Glyphosate is hazardous to earthworms, Tests using New
> Zealand's
> most common earthworm showed that glyphosate, in amounts as low as
> 1/20
> of standard application rates, reduced it- growth and slowed its
> development.
> 
> 8.     Roundup inhibits mycorrhizal fungi.  Canadian studies have
> shown
> that as little as 1 part per million of Roundup can reduce the growth
> or
> colonization of mycorrhizal fungi.
> 
> 9.     Glyphosate reduces nitrogen fixation.  Amounts as small as 2
> parts per million have had significant effects, and effects have been
> measured up to 120 days after treatment.  Nitrogen- fixing bacteria
> shown to be impacted by glyphosate include a species found on soybeans
> and several species found on clover.
> 
> 10.     Roundup can increase the spread or seventy of plant diseases.
> Treatment with roundup  increased the severity of Rhizoctonia root rot
> in barley, increased the amount and growth of take-all fungus, a wheat
> disease), and reduced the ability of bean plants to defend themselves
> against anthracnose.
> 
>         These facts about Roundup are taken From a two-part article
> about the
> health and environmental hazards of glyphosate published in NCAP's
> Journal of Pesticide Reform.  Copies of the article, with complete
> references for all of .the information presented, are available from
> NCAP for $2.00. NCAP,  PO Box 1391; Eugene, OR 97440; (541) 344-5044.
> 
> --
> 
> John A. Keslick Jr.---Tree Anatomist & Tree Biologist.-
> Boycott Food grown with "SLUDGE" (Bio-Solids)
> Organic Tree Treatment Web Site:
> http://www.pond.com/~treeman


I realize that Roundup may be a harmful substance, for that matter
nearly all chemicals created by man are harmful in one way or another. 
Instead of complaining about the hazards of using Roundup, why don't you
suggest an alternative that is safe.  

You didn't because there isn't one.  All aspects considered, Roundup is
probably the safest chemical available for it's particular use.  Don't
get me wrong here; I am not saying that Roundup is safe, just safer than
available alternatives.  Complaining is very easy.  Try helping with
useful suggestions next time.
-- 
_________________________________

R. Howard Larsen
Environmental Specialist
_________________________________

Western Environmental
P.O. Box 71
Spruce View, Alberta
Canada
T0M 1V0
(403) 318-3340


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