Pesticide spraying?

[Jeremy]

Sue Wrote:

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> According to Wiki, "In March 2015 the World Health

> Organization's International Agency for Research

> on Cancer published a summary of its forthcoming

> monograph on glyphosate, and classified it as

> "probably carcinogenic in humans"

Read onto the next sentence, and you'll see that there is some dispute around this.

I'm not saying that glyphosate is wonderful stuff and we should all start bathing in it... but at the same time I think there's a bit of scaremongering going on, and evidence (on both sides) seems rather inconclusive.

[aquarius moon]

Yes Loz. I still look at it from time to time. I wouldn't know how to work it otherwise.

ETA I wouldn't know how to work anything without reading the instructions!

[SLad]

Otta Wrote:

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> So that's that sorted then.

>

>

>

> Louisa

So...does this mean Otta is Louisa?

[aquarius moon]

If you really don't know the answer to that SLad.......,

I would go back to sleep.

[Green Goose]

C'mon folks, you worry about glyphosate?

It's only Agent Orange from the '60's.

[civilservant]

um, no, Agent Orange is not the same as glyphosate...

[henryb]

The sprayers seem to covering a lot of ground. I have never seen it been used this extensively before. I guess a problem is if it is used in this quantity in a paved urban environments, rain water will wash most of it off into the water ways. It doesn't break down very easily so will build up over the years. It has been linked to the bee population decline.

Chicago and Paris have stopped using it because of concerns. It is not agent orange but it is still nasty stuff.

Campaigners in Hackney are trying stop it being used there.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/21/glyphosate-probably-carcinogenic-pesticide-why-cities-use-it

[Saffron]

Thanks, that's an interesting article. xx

[Loz]

civilservant Wrote:

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> um, no, Agent Orange is not the same as glyphosate...

Unless you consider a nuclear missile is the same as a hand grenade, on the basis they both go 'boom'.

[civilservant]

Loz Wrote:

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> Unless you consider a nuclear missile is the same

> as a hand grenade, on the basis they both go

> 'boom'.

:-)

[philosophie]

I suggest a read of Silent Spring.

[Sue]

civilservant Wrote:

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> :-)

civilservant, if you leave out the hyphen on this forum, you get a smiley, thus: :)

ETA: Sorry admin, please don't lounge the thread, I just felt an urge to post that :))

[civilservant]

having long admired Sue's skill with smileys, i finally get to learn how they're done!

:)

edited to add :))

[James Barber]

So if we think this stuff isn't ideal - what is the alternative that we're proposing?

[henryb]

Hand weeding and steaming seem to be common alternatives.

Here is a well thought out letter to Camden Council from a resident there.

http://www.transitionkentishtown.org.uk/2015/04/the-campaign-against-glyphosate/

[Sue]

James Barber Wrote:

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> So if we think this stuff isn't ideal - what is

> the alternative that we're proposing?

I think probably the alternatives would be too labour intensive and expensive, BUT what I was asking above was that a sign be put up in streets/places which are to be sprayed, maybe a week beforehand, warning residents that this will be happening and when.

Also, I know in Islington (where there was council encouragement to residents to plant up tree pits as part of Islington in Bloom) the people doing the spraying had a list of places including tree pits which they were asked not to spray.

This did depend on good communication between various council departments, not always a council strong point, but eventually this seemed to work quite well (after one or two very disgruntled residents got their carefully planted and tended tree pits trashed with weedkiller ..... )

[James Barber]

Hi henryb,

That was a really ijntersting letter. Theb est bit for me:

"

So here is our proposed alternative: a technique called weed steaming, based on an old method of killing weeds with simple hot water. A London-based company called Weedingtech offers a weed steaming product called Foamstream, which uses no harmful chemicals and is already being used by water companies and councils. In London, the boroughs of Southwark and Kensington & Chelsea are using Foamstream in parks using the contractor Quadron Services.

"

I will ask the Director of the department about this and ask Cllr Rosie Shimell the Lib Dem opposition spoeksperson on Environment to explore this.

[Loz]

Wouldn't steaming be ineffective on perennial weeds?

[Saffron]

Loz Wrote:

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> Wouldn't steaming be ineffective on perennial

> weeds?

Or the other side of the coin... if chemicals were extremely effective at deterring perennials, why spray them so ubiqitously and with such frequency?

[Saffron]

Then again, steaming is very energy intensive. So unless that energy is draw from a clean, renewable source, is it any better for health/environment? :-/

[James Barber]

Southwark has experience via its contractor Quadron. I've asked the question lets hear back what officers understand.

Steam is energy intesive but not directly carcinogenic - yes long-term it depends on how the energy is generated.

[Broadbean]

What if people weeded there pavements outside their own houses it would only take a few minutes of their time and be environmentally friendly ,I always do this and it would keep the streets tidier.

There would be less places needing weed spraying as well.

[Nigello]

Great idea, Broadbean, but I doubt it will catch on around here. You have only to look at the state of some people's privets/trees etc to show how little some people care about their environment.

[Broadbean]

I agree Nigello, as I see in my own street how people just throw their rubbish on the pavement outside their house . It seems that once it's outside their front gate it has nothing to do with them .

[Nigello]

Pick it up and throw it back inside. Or, pick it up and put it in your own bin: being gracious can often feel better than being vengeful!