Pesticide spraying?

[James Barber]

This is the response I've had from council officers:

"

The council's cleaning service use 2 separate herbicides within the borough to treat weeds as the use of chemicals is deemed to be the most cost effective way of ensuring the borough's footways and housing estates remain weed free.

The products used to control weeds are RouteOne Rosate 360 and CDA Vanquish as they have the lowest environmental impact in comparison to other products on the market and are widely used by many local authorities. Both products contain glyphosate as an active ingredient but have been shown not to be carcinogenic in tests.

All of our weed sprayers are fully trained and certificated in using Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) approved professional products and follow approved codes of practice.

The Weedingtech Foamstream product used in some of our parks involves the application of hot water and foam to active weeds and while this may be practical for use in parks where areas can be cordoned off for treatment with minimal disruption to the public, the product does not lend itself to use on the public highway and housing estates because of the need for a power source to heat the water and for the area to be cordoned off whilst treatments takes place.

"

So while these pesticides are legal and the alternative so impractical for our roads I can't see a path to change this. ...

[henryb]

Thanks James,

Have they reviewed the situation since the WHO and IARC announcement it is probably carcinogenic in March?

http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/MonographVolume112.pdf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11487118/Weedkiller-alert-over-cancer-link.html

[Saffron]

Is there any mention of residents being given better notice of when/where spraying will occur?

[James Barber]

No saffron. The workers generally are walking around squirting gutters on days suitable to do this - dry days I guess.

[pinkladybird]

'Both products contain glyphosate as an active ingredient but have been shown not to be carcinogenic in tests.'

Are they not going to be pulled up on this considering the recent WHO announcement which they should be aware of?

Long term effects are incredibly difficult to determine, nevertheless there seems to be an awful lot of research linking glyphosate with various disorders (endocrine disruption, DNA mutation)- not just cancer.

I saw a guy spraying North Cross Rd today. There were hardly any weeds on the road as it was. But for every tiny little weed a good square metre of pavement was sprayed. It would have been difficult to be more precise as the spray came out 'watering can-like' from waist level. There was a breeze, and cake/food stalls.... The guy seemed pretty blase`. I mentioned the WHO announcement and his reply was 'that's what they say, but...' he never finished and I was left wondering 'but what?'. He wasn't wearing a mask.

As for alternatives, countries and cities around the world have banned glyphosate - including Holland and Paris. How do they manage? I've just been to Paris and it did seem a bit weedier than London but people seem to accept it. Could Southwark council not communicate with Paris/Dutch councils and find out what they do?

My road, Crystal Palace Road, is due to be sprayed soon but if you look you will see there are hardly any weeds. I think to spray at this point is completely unnecessary, as it was to spray North Cross Rd. And I think most people could accept a few more weeds (as they seem to in other parts of Europe) especially if they were aware of the risks in getting rid of them.

Glyphsate's breakdown time is not known, but is known to be far longer on hard sufaces. Monsanto lost a court case in France for false advertising claims that glyphosate is biodegradable and leaves the soil clean.

www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8308903.stm.

This means that the glyphosate may ultimately end up in our drinking water via the gutter (this is the reason it is banned from Denmark's paved surfaces). Water treatment plants do not remove this.

I have a feeling that eventually glyphosate will be banned for UK council usage, especially as evidence accumulates, but why wait just for the sake of a few weeds.

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

[James Barber]

Hi pinkladybird,

It is up to UK and european government to ban chemicals that are harmful. Not individual councils.

I would urge people to contact an MEP about this issue - https://www.writetothem.com for who our MEP's are.

If we had a risk of drinking water being contaminated it would have become evident decades ago and Thames Water make thousands of tests day of water quality.

[pinkladybird]

Hi James,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry I think my post got a bit long-winded and unclear.

I'm not asking that Southwark council ban glyphosate, just that they don't spray it on our pavements.

The points I was trying to make were:

- 'Both products contain glyphosate as an active ingredient but have been shown not to be carcinogenic in tests.'

How can Southwark council say this considering the recent WHO announcement?

- As for there being no practical alternatives - then how do other European cities such as Paris and Amsterdam manage?

With regards to water contamination - as far as I know UK water boards don't test for glyphosate.

[uncleglen]

What difference does it make...what with the traffic fumes, constant building work putting f knows what in the air 7 days a week, a bit of pesticide will settle a bit of the dust...

[Penguin68]

Ashes to Ashes

Dust to Dust

If the glysophosates don't get us

The nitrogen dioxide must