Re: CULT: Preemergent vs. Postemergent herbicides and health

I can't speak about pre-emergents, but I have heard a number of
unsettling things about postemergents such as RoundUp.

Quoted from the newsletter of the Organic Consumer's Association:
"Two new peer-reviewed scientific studies have further confirmed the toxicity of glyphosate, the world's most commonly used herbicide. The June 2005 scientific journal "Environmental Health Perspectives" reports that glyphosate, sold by Monsanto under the brand name "Roundup," damages human placental cells at exposure levels ten times less than what the company claims is safe.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/7728/abstract.html
A study in the August journal Ecological Applications found that even when applied at concentrations that are one-third of the maximum concentrations typically found in waterways, Roundup still killed up to 71 percent of tadpoles in the study.
http://www.esajournals.org/esaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=1051-0761&volume=015&issue=04&page=1118
Similar glyphosate studies around the world have been equally alarming. The American Academy of Family Physicians epidemiological research has now linked exposure to the herbicide with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a life-threatening cancer, while a Canadian study has linked glyphosate exposure with increased risk for miscarriage.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/990800ap/tips/17.html
A 2002 study linked glyphosate exposure with increased incidence of attention deficit disorder in children.
http://www.pesticide.org/glyphosate.pdf
Despite these studies, Monsanto continues to advertise Roundup, sprayed heavily on 140 million acres of genetically engineered crops across the world, as one of the "safest" pesticides on the market. "

I couldn't find a reference for it, but I have also read that RoundUp is
far more persistent in the environment than Monsanto lets on, and has been
detected in virtually every major waterway in the U.S.

A bit off topic, but of concern, is the emergence of
RoundUp-tolerant weeds:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/superweed081905.cfm

While the OCA is not particularly unbiased in its outlook towards
herbicides and pesticides, a great deal of this evidence is in
supposedly unbiased peer-reviewed journals. It's enough to make me
very wary of ever using RoundUp or similar products.

For what it's worth,

Jean
in the currently sultry San Francisco bay area, zone 9


loberg@adelphia.net wrote:

Does anyone have any data or sites which give info on which herbicides are
less likely to accumulate in the soils, and which ones are less toxic to
humans/animals (if there is such a thing)?  My question is kind of like
asking, is is better to use Roundup in broad areas, and replant, or to use
repetitive uses of preeemergents?   One site which has good information
about both kinds of herbicides is
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/weston/weedfacts/wdfct5.html,
but if anyone can recommend others or ones specific to "heatlth", please do.
Kitty Loberg
Northern Calif.

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