Re: What's The Latest On Roundup Herbicide?

      Well, if you want to compare it to table salt.  I wouldn't put it on my
food, but then I wouldn't use salt to kill weeds.  Unless it is in the
driveway and I don't plan to grow anything there for many years.
     Ok the truth, if you buy the right formulation for the job it would be
effective and safe on the environment.  It is not soil active and some
formulations are designed for aquatic use that will breakdown rapidly after
application.  But remember to read the label to determine what the safe uses
are for that formulation.  There are now over 100 different brands and
formulations of glyphosate, commonly referred to as "Round-UP."

     Who makes money from you using or not using the product.  Who should you
trust?

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1  It's Irish Math

 From http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/glyphos.html :

Glyphosate; Pesticide Fact Sheet, Prepared for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service by Information Ventures, Inc.

III. Environmental Effects/Fate:

Soil:

Residual Soil Activity: Glyphosate is not generally active in the soil. It
is not usually absorbed from the soil by plants.
Adsorption: Glyphosate and the surfactant used in Roundup are both strongly
adsorbed by the soil.
Persistence and Agents of Degradation: Glyphosate remains unchanged in the
soil for varying lengths of time, depending on soil texture and organic
matter content. The half-life of glyphosate can range from 3 to 130 days.
Soil microorganisms break down glyphosate. In tests, the surfactant in
Roundup has a soil half-life of less than 1 week. Soil microorganisms break
down the surfactant.
Metabolites/Degradation Products and Potential Environmental Effects: The
main break-down product of glyphosate in the soil is aminomethylphosphonic
acid, which is broken down further by soil microorganisms. The main
break-down product of the surfactant used in Roundup is carbon dioxide.
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Water:

Solubility: Glyphosate dissolves easily in water.
Potential For Leaching Into Ground-Water: The potential for leaching is low.
Glyphosate and the surfactant in Roundup are strongly adsorbed to soil
particles. Tests show that the half-life for glyphosate in water ranges from
35 to 63 days. The surfactant half-life ranges from 3 to 4 weeks.
Surface Waters: Studies examined glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid
(AMPA) residues in surface water after forest application in British
Columbia with and without no-spray streamside zones. With a no-spray
streamside zone, very low concentrations were sometimes found in water and
sediment after the first heavy rain. Where glyphosate was sprayed over the
stream, higher peak concentrations in water always occurred following heavy
rain, up to 3 weeks after application. Glyphosate and AMPA residues peaked
later in stream sediments, where they persisted for over 1 year. These
residues were not easily released back into the water.

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Air:

Volatilization: Glyphosate does not evaporate easily.
Potential For By-Products From Burning of Treated Vegetation: Major products
from burning treated vegetation include phosphorus pentoxide, acetonitrile,
carbon dioxide and water. Phosphorus pentoxide forms phosphoric acid in the
presence of water. None of these compounds is known to be a health threat at
the levels which would be found in a vegetation fire.

Dave

 

I've used it for years, either hand-sprayed in a squirt bottle or pained on
with a brush. Not once have I seen any degradation in plants that were close
to the treated foliage except in cases of accidental overspray. It really is
quite amazing how you can kill a plant and one right next to it doesn't even
notice.

I sometimes use plastic to protect a desirable plant, or simply wash it off
with a watering can after spraying.

So for what it's worth, my experience is that Monsanto is telling the truth.

 "brojack77@my-deja.com" wrote:

Well, there's no question that RoundUp cuts a pretty wide swath
through the invertebrates that encounter it.  It has a very short
stability profile, however; so, it doesn't hang around to keep
killing.  And, as herbicides go, it's pretty safe for humans if
handled correctly.  So, basically, it comes down to the old
question of cost-benefit ratios:  Is the advantage of one-pass
defoliation worth the loss of all your invertebrates in this
particular instance?

Chris Owens


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