EU weedkiller dispute

Farway

elaineruk wrote: »

If you would like to keep the right to use Glyphosate weedkillers please can you can let your local MEP know how you feel by making a quick visit here:

https://www.mygardenmychoice.com/act-now-your-garden-is-at-risk/

Please pass the word to other "normal" gardeners :beer:

Thanks, but mine is a Green one so doubt it would help:(

andrewf75

elaineruk wrote: »

The media is so biased towards "organic" farming and gardening - if all farmers did what the BBC's gardening programs promote, we'd probably all have died of starvation long ago!! Regarding the EU and glyphosate it seems the whole research paper into it possibly being carcinogenic was extremely dubious to say the least - have a look here and draw your own conclusions:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-who-glyphosate-idUSKCN0Y71HR

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/05/16/un-committee-finds-weed-killer-glyphosate-unlikely-to-cause-cancer.html

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/who-iarc-glyphosate/

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/weedkiller-scientist-was-paid-120-000-by-cancer-lawyers-v0qggbrk6

I'm not so worried about the health risks, but we clearly use too many chemicals and the effect on the environment is devastating. Some chemicals are clearly necessary to produce food efficiently, but in gardens I think its absolutely right to try and do it without chemicals. Surely "normal gardeners" care about nature? Without expert knowledge none of us can say what the precise effects are and whether certain products really need to be banned or not, but personally I’d much rather err on the side of caution.

The_Biff

If you are daft enough to use weedkiller then please wear the thick red rubber gloves aka creosote gloves. If a plant can absorb it through its leaves, then humans can absorb it through their skin.

Davesnave

The_Biff wrote: »

If you are daft enough to use weedkiller then please wear the thick red rubber gloves aka creosote gloves. If a plant can absorb it through its leaves, then humans can absorb it through their skin.

Glyphosate isn't absorbed very readily via the skin, but other constituents, like adjuvants, might be. In any event, correct PPE is advisable, and in this regard nitrile gloves will do.

Whether one is 'daft' to use weedkillers depends on circumstances, like the type of weed, their quantity, the landscape being controlled and so on.

Clearly, if there are not enough hours in the day to deal with weeds organically, and there is no organic requirement, then it might be equally 'daft' to ignore the use of weedkillers and persist with methods which are doomed to fail.

glasgowdan

And as expected... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42135437