Pissing in the rain?

I am busy with some research on glyphosate for some articles. The results are quite alarming I must say....

Give it back to Monsanto and Syngenta

In a seminar at the Biofach fair, Dr Hubert Weiger from the German environmental organization BUND, informed us about that Glyphosate, the active ingredient of the herbicide mostly known as Roundup, is now found in people's urine.

A recent study show:

"To determine if only individuals who are in direct contact with contaminated feed or glyphosate laced compounds are at risk of glyphosate poisoning a study was conducted in December 2011 of an urban population in Berlin. The urine of city workers, journalists and lawyers, who had no direct contact with glyphosate, was examined for glyphosate contamination by a research team at the University of Leipzig. The study found glyphosate in all urine samples at values ranging from 0.5 to 2 ng glyphosate per ml urine (drinking water limit: 0.1 ng / ml). None of the examinees had direct contact with agriculture."

Glyphosate was originally mainly used on weeds to clear land for planting, but is increasinglu used to kill off the crop just before harvest, so called dessication. Syngenta’s advertising brochure says “For professional producers chemical desiccation now counts among the standard measures to assure high quality production [...]. In this context one also speaks of the “economic maturity” of crops, as the usage of herbicides allows for a safe termination of the harvesting procedure.”

The report quoted above says, "for potatoes, spraying herbicides on the field immediately before harvest (2.5 l / ha), hardens the skin and reduces its susceptibility to late blight and germination, which improved the potatoes shelf life. Active compounds of the herbicide directly enter the potato through the leaves; however, decomposition of the poison takes place in the body of the consumer."

These companies that claims patents and trademark rights on their products should be hold accountable for where they end up. Ultimately, governments should ban the use of herbicides. There are readily available alternatives available. Their use will cost a bit more for farmers - but that is a small price to pay to avoid poisoning.

Until governments have taken action, my humble proposition is that we should collect the urine and send it to Monsanto, Syngenta and the others.

Why am I not surprised!

The growing problem with weeds that have become resistant to the most common herbicide used by American corn, soybean and cotton farmers has gotten so serious that new strategies are needed to combat them,  according to David Mortensen.

Mortensen should know. The professor of weed ecology in the College of Agricultural Sciences has spent his career researching weeds that affect agricultural production, sustainable ways to control them, and the relationships between crops, native and invasive weeds, and pollinators.

"During the period since the introduction of glyphosate-resistant crops, the number of weedy plant species that have evolved resistance to glyphosate has increased dramatically, from zero in 1995 to 19 in June of 2010," Mortensen said.

In the summer of 2009, glyphosate-resistant weeds were reported on as many as 14,262 sites on up to 5.4 million acres, and the most recent summary indicates 30,000 sites infested on up to 11.4 million acres, according to Mortensen. In a period of three years, the number of reported sites infested by glyphosate-resistant weeds has increased nine fold, while the maximum infested acreage increased nearly fivefold.

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