Pollution by Roundup

Martin Carr has written to the committee to draw attention to the issues surrounding the use of Roundup as a weed-killer on the allotments.

The committee has always tried to stress to people that the activities on their plot should not be intrusive or harmful to neighbours, from radios and bonfires to weed-killers and insecticides. Accordingly, the committee would like to remind plotholders that they should take care to ensure that their activities are confined to their own plot, and be careful when spraying, for example, to ensure that neighbours' plots are not affected.

Martin's email is attached, for members' information.

Dear Tony and all

I am very concerned that allotment holders are using Roundup without any awareness of the issues surrounding its use. We have heard it said that it "just disappears" after use. I would like to say ban it! but I know this is a democratic association where people should be able to make their own choices etc etc.

My strong concern is that organic growers can be badly affected when others are misinformed and unknowingly use such products, and would like this to be pointed out in the newsletter or webpages of the association, perhaps using the text highlighted below, and for people to recognise the damage they are doing to their own plots, and to be encouraged, if they must use it at all, to use it and other such products sparingly and with caution.

Martin

Here is the text which Martin attached.

You may well be aware there is controversy surrounding the weedkiller Roundup, (not least because of so called scientific reports funded by it's manufacturer Monsanto,being discredited), but there is strong evidence that it is toxic to amphibians, (like frogs and newts) may well be harmful to invertibrates (like worms), and beneficial fungi (in the compost heap), it has been found to kill beneficial insects (such as parasitoid wasps, lacewings and ladybirds), it inhibits nitrogen fixation, (which enriches the soil), it only affects growing plants, (ie not weed seeds), traces of it remain in plants once they are harvested and processed (the food we eat), and it is found to increase the susceptibility of crop plants to disease (ie it works against us all!)

There are anecdotal suggestions that in higher concentrations it is toxic to humans and may affect human fertility and pregnancy. In 1996 Monsanto was accused of false and misleading advertising of glyphosate products, prompting a law suit by the New York State attorney general. In 2007, Monsanto was convicted of false advertising of Roundup for presenting Roundup as biodegradable and claiming that it left the soil clean after use. Environmental and consumer rights campaigners brought the case in 2001 on the basis that glyphosate, Roundup's main ingredient, is classed as "dangerous for the environment" and "toxic for aquatic organisms" by the European Union.

For association members who are trying to be organic the use of this substance on neighbouring plots is greatly disturbing, as Monsanto's claims about Roundup are highly debatable, and with the size and proximity of plots what happens on one plot will affect next door.

If however, plotholders are trying to reproduce the great chemical wastelands of industrial farming, with genetically engineered monocrops and the absence of beneficial wildlife, then Roundup is an excellent choice.......

There is more information, well referenced, and a thriving discussion on Wikipedia, and www.naturescountrystore.com plus plenty of other comment available around the web!

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