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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Next time you reach for the RoundUp - STOP!
Glyphosate
Next time you reach for the can of RoundUp to clean up a path or a patch of unwanted grass or weeds, stop for a minute and think of the harm you might be doing to your farm and garden soil, the waterways and rivers, the micro-organisms that support life on this planet, your own health and the health of those who are yet to be born.
Glyphosate is without doubt, a disaster in the making. We are only now beginning to understand some of the dangers of unfettered use of RoundUp in commercial agriculture and in our own home gardens. Even more disturbing is the escalating use of RoundUp in commercial agriculture, particularly in genetically modified crops.
The problem with products like RoundUp is that they appear to be very effective. They do the job we want them to do. They allow us to clean up unsightly weeds and overgrown areas with little effort. This quick fix causes a vast number of highly dangerous, long-term problems.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in RoundUp. On its own it is very poisonous. Combined with some of the other ingredients contained in RoundUp, glyphosate becomes even more dangerous.
RoundUp kills weeds and grass extremely quickly but it is a short-term solution. When grass is killed, it is quickly replaced by weeds so that weed infestation increases because of the application of RoundUp. The quantity and type of weeds change, and become more and more invasive when RoundUp is used. Some parts of the world, in particular the USA are seeing the growth of "super weeds" which cannot be eradicated because they are so tough and they grow so fast. Weed growth increases because the type of weeds that grow in any area are a response to soil condition: the greater the imbalance of nutrients in the soil and the less organic matter it contains, the greater the weed problem.
Round up causes soil nutrients to be tied up leaving the soil more and more unbalanced. According to Don M. Huber, Eneritus Professor, Purdue University: "It is not uncommon to see the available of copper, cobalt, iron manganese, nickel and zinc deficiencies in soils to intensify in soils where RoundUp is applied. Glyphosate in soil and root exudates also stimulates oxidative soil microbes that reduce nutrient availability by decreasing their solubility for plant uptake, immobilize nutrients such as potassium and deny plant access to soil nutrients through pathogenic activity. Plant pathogens stimulated by glyphosate include ubiquitous bacterial and fungal, crown and stalk rotting fungi, vascular colonising organisms that disrupt nutrient transport and cause wilt and die-back and root-nibblers that impair access or uptake of soil nutrients."
Mineralisation of plant residues that have been killed by glyphosate release accumulated glyphosate into the soil in toxic concentrations that can kill whatever is planted subsequently. Plant death occurs through increased plant susceptibility to common soil-borne fungi such as Fusarium and Phytophthora that are stimulated by glyphosate applications.
Roundup kills weeds but it is not selective: it kills anything it contacts. It is also a potent micro-biocide. It is toxic to earthworms and mycorrhizae. It reduces the number of microbes that convert insoluble soil oxides to plant available forms, nitrogen-fixing organisms and organisms involved in the biological control of soil borne diseases that reduce root uptake of nutrients.
For many years Monsanto, the manufacturer of RoundUp claimed it was a bio-degradable substance but court cases in Europe have demonstrated consclusively that this claim is not true. RoundUp no longer has the word bio-degradable on its label.
Because it is not bio-degradable it:
* Persists and accumulates in soil and plants for many years.
* Accumulates in food and feed products to enter the food chain and it has been demonstrated that it is highly dangerous in terms of human health. Many scientific studies have been done which demonstrate this is a major concern.
* Can damage trees and shrubs planted following its use because it is taken up by these plants through their roots.
* Stimulates soil-born pathogens, thus reducing nutrient available.
* Inhibits nitrogen fixation.
* Increases mycotoxins in stems, straw, grain and fruit.
* Inhibits uptake and translocation of iron, manganese and zinc even when glyphosate is present at very low, non-herbicidal rates.
Professor Huber says: "Introduction of glyphosate, an intense mineral chelator, into the food chain through accumulation in feed, forage and food and by root exudation into ground water poses significant health concerns for animals and humans."
Bev Buckley. For more information visit learn more
Next time you reach for the can of RoundUp to clean up a path or a patch of unwanted grass or weeds, stop for a minute and think of the harm you might be doing to your farm and garden soil, the waterways and rivers, the micro-organisms that support life on this planet, your own health and the health of those who are yet to be born.
Glyphosate is without doubt, a disaster in the making. We are only now beginning to understand some of the dangers of unfettered use of RoundUp in commercial agriculture and in our own home gardens. Even more disturbing is the escalating use of RoundUp in commercial agriculture, particularly in genetically modified crops.
The problem with products like RoundUp is that they appear to be very effective. They do the job we want them to do. They allow us to clean up unsightly weeds and overgrown areas with little effort. This quick fix causes a vast number of highly dangerous, long-term problems.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in RoundUp. On its own it is very poisonous. Combined with some of the other ingredients contained in RoundUp, glyphosate becomes even more dangerous.
RoundUp kills weeds and grass extremely quickly but it is a short-term solution. When grass is killed, it is quickly replaced by weeds so that weed infestation increases because of the application of RoundUp. The quantity and type of weeds change, and become more and more invasive when RoundUp is used. Some parts of the world, in particular the USA are seeing the growth of "super weeds" which cannot be eradicated because they are so tough and they grow so fast. Weed growth increases because the type of weeds that grow in any area are a response to soil condition: the greater the imbalance of nutrients in the soil and the less organic matter it contains, the greater the weed problem.
Round up causes soil nutrients to be tied up leaving the soil more and more unbalanced. According to Don M. Huber, Eneritus Professor, Purdue University: "It is not uncommon to see the available of copper, cobalt, iron manganese, nickel and zinc deficiencies in soils to intensify in soils where RoundUp is applied. Glyphosate in soil and root exudates also stimulates oxidative soil microbes that reduce nutrient availability by decreasing their solubility for plant uptake, immobilize nutrients such as potassium and deny plant access to soil nutrients through pathogenic activity. Plant pathogens stimulated by glyphosate include ubiquitous bacterial and fungal, crown and stalk rotting fungi, vascular colonising organisms that disrupt nutrient transport and cause wilt and die-back and root-nibblers that impair access or uptake of soil nutrients."
Mineralisation of plant residues that have been killed by glyphosate release accumulated glyphosate into the soil in toxic concentrations that can kill whatever is planted subsequently. Plant death occurs through increased plant susceptibility to common soil-borne fungi such as Fusarium and Phytophthora that are stimulated by glyphosate applications.
Roundup kills weeds but it is not selective: it kills anything it contacts. It is also a potent micro-biocide. It is toxic to earthworms and mycorrhizae. It reduces the number of microbes that convert insoluble soil oxides to plant available forms, nitrogen-fixing organisms and organisms involved in the biological control of soil borne diseases that reduce root uptake of nutrients.
For many years Monsanto, the manufacturer of RoundUp claimed it was a bio-degradable substance but court cases in Europe have demonstrated consclusively that this claim is not true. RoundUp no longer has the word bio-degradable on its label.
Because it is not bio-degradable it:
* Persists and accumulates in soil and plants for many years.
* Accumulates in food and feed products to enter the food chain and it has been demonstrated that it is highly dangerous in terms of human health. Many scientific studies have been done which demonstrate this is a major concern.
* Can damage trees and shrubs planted following its use because it is taken up by these plants through their roots.
* Stimulates soil-born pathogens, thus reducing nutrient available.
* Inhibits nitrogen fixation.
* Increases mycotoxins in stems, straw, grain and fruit.
* Inhibits uptake and translocation of iron, manganese and zinc even when glyphosate is present at very low, non-herbicidal rates.
Professor Huber says: "Introduction of glyphosate, an intense mineral chelator, into the food chain through accumulation in feed, forage and food and by root exudation into ground water poses significant health concerns for animals and humans."
Bev Buckley. For more information visit learn more
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