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EU bans glyphosate
KT53
Posts: 9,016
I've just read that the EU has voted to ban glyphosate on the basis that it may be carcinogenic, but that there is no hard evidence either way.
Time to get the bulk order in before it all disappears from the shelves methinks.
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hi kt53 got mine last October 5ltrs I had half a container left so will have to wait and se what happens ????
I've been expecting this. For some years, the EU has been sponsoring scientific trials across several countries to evaluate glyphosate and its effects on the environment. The official line form the producers is that it becomes inert on contact with the soil and only kills the plants whose foliage comes in contact with the product. Tests show however that it leaches into water courses where it can remain active and also get into the water supply.
However, its main use seems to be in countries which use GM seeds to grow crops developed by commercial companies to be resistant to glyphosate. The growers then use it in stronger solution to deal with weeds. These higher concentrations are linked to cancers in general and birth defects in particular - not something I should wish to inflict on anyone.
It's a relatively recent introduction to gardening and I'm sure we can live without it again.
Several local councils in the UK have voted to ban it's use by their departments
Glyphosate was developed because other weedkillers were banned so it's not simply a case of reverting to what was being used before.
The suggestion by the Soil Association to weed by hand, use livestock as weed controllers, or used deep mulch shows how detached they are from the reality of the problem for many gardeners, myself included. I have problems with both knees and one hip which makes bending to do the weeding difficult. I certainly have no plans to introduce livestock, and can't afford to buy the quantity of mulch required to cover 200 + feet of borders.
KT - Have you heard of hoes and cultivators with long handles? Old technology. Very effective.
PF - Scientific thought on neocotinoids is pretty clear. Politicians are the ones that vote to ban them and they are subject to intensive lobbying by glbal companies such as Monsanto, Bayer, Glaxo, Pfeizer et al. It will take public pressure to change their minds.
I weed with a hoe
My big concern about glyphosate is that it is routinely sprayed onto grain and other seed crops shortly before harvest to hasten ripening.
I'm not keen to eat bread, porridge and vegetable oil etc containing glyphosate.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
As for the lack of 'hard evidence either way' regarding the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate ....... wasn't that what the tobacco companies used to say about cigarettes?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Nor me. Not that I ever eat porridge but I do use oats in bread and Parmesan biscuits and crumble mixes.
We have hoes and cultivators in various sizes and shapes (Wolf double bladed is best hoe head) with different handle lengths for hoeing standing up or kneeling as needed.
So good to hear positive replies
I wander around the garden, watching things grow, listening to the birds and the bees and I wonder how anyone can spread chemicals about
In the sticks near Peterborough