RE:
DANISH WATER CONTAMINATED BY ROUNDUP, BAN IMPOSED
Denmark
has imposed a ban on the spraying of glyphosates as of 15 September 2003
following the release of data which found that glyphosate, the active
ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide (RR) has been contaminating the
drinking water resources of the country.
The
chemical has, against all expectations sieving down through the soil and
polluting the ground water at a rate of five times more than the allowed level
for drinking water, according to tests done by the Denmark and Greenland
Geological Research Institution (DGGRI) as reported below.
"When
we spray glyphosate on the fields by the rules it has been shown that it is
washed down into the upper ground water with a concentration of 0.54 micrograms
per litre. This is very surprising, because we had previously believed that
bacteria in the soil broke down the glyphosate before it reached the ground
water," says DGGRI.
We hope
you will find the information provided useful. With best wishes,
Lim Li
Lin and Chee Yoke Heong Third World Network 121-S Jalan Utama 10450 Penang
Malaysia Email: twnet@po.jaring.my Website: www.twnside.org.sg
**********************************
REF: Doc.TWN/Biosafety/2003/F Item 1
Danish
glyphosate restrictions draw protests Environment Daily no. 1457, Jun 5, 2003
Danish
environment minister Hans Christian Schmidt has announced unprecedented
restrictions on glyphosate, the country's and Europe's most widely used
herbicide. The action follows publication of data showing the chemical's
presence in groundwater, from which Denmark obtains most of its drinking water.
Although concentrations in drinking water did not exceed permissible limits, it
was "worrying" that unacceptable quantities of glyphosate and its breakdown
product AMPA might build up via drainage in the uppermost levels of
groundwater, Mr Schmidt said. "Danes should be able to put the coffee on
in the morning without worrying about pesticides", he added. From 15
September, autumn spraying of glyphosates will be banned on sites "where
leaching is extensive because of heavy rain". There are a number of
exceptions to the new restrictions, which are subject to revision after an
interim consultation period. In a joint response, Cheminova, Syngenta and Monsanto,
which manufacture or sell glyphosate in Denmark, condemned the government's
move as "unacceptable" for the producers or Danish farmers.
Glyphosate could only be identified as a threat by ignoring "scientific
findings and knowledge", they said. According to the firms, the
restrictions appeared to be based on finding of glyphosate at one metre's depth
in the soil. This "can hardly - and only with the most narrow political
intentions - be regarded as groundwater, and certainly not as drinking water",
they complained.
Raising
new questions about the environmental risks of some widely used farm chemicals,
scientists are reporting today the first evidence linking agricultural runoff
to grotesque hind-limb deformities in frogs.
Researchers
said frogs appear to be made more vulnerable to a common parasite when exposed
to the pesticides atrazine and malathion. The parasite, a burrowing trematode
worm, tends to infect the hindquarters of developing tadpoles.
Atrazine
is part of a family of chemicals that rank among the world's most widely used
weed killers. Malathion is commonly applied to control mosquitoes and other
insects, and pharmaceutical grades are approved for killing head lice. Both
products are controversial but considered safe for commercial use in the United
States.
Now,
effects of these and other chemicals on the environment are coming under new
scrutiny. Research is driven partly by keen public and scientific interest in
the declining health of amphibian populations, often portrayed as a sentinel
for environmental decline and a possible early warning of health problems
affecting humans.
At last
count, wild frogs with missing or extra hind limbs have been observed in at
least 43 states and five Canadian provinces. Earlier studies clearly implicated
the trematode parasite but left open the question of what might be causing the
apparent increase in the problem.
The
latest study, by ecologist Joseph Kiesecker at Pennsylvania State University
and edited by UC Berkeley amphibian specialist David Wake, tries to fit in the
key remaining puzzle piece. The study appears in the early edition of this
week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Kiesecker
said his observations of the common wood frog Rana sylvatica in the wild, followed
by controlled studies in his laboratory, produced "compelling"
evidence that pesticides can weaken the immune system of exposed amphibians --
even at very low concentrations -- making the frogs more vulnerable to
parasites.
The
field studies showed "considerably higher rates of limb deformities where
there was pesticide exposure," Kiesecker said in an interview. "Then
the lab experiments helped support the mechanism for what we saw in the
field."
He also
looked at another pesticide, a synthetic chemical called esfenvalerate, but did
not find the same links to growth anomalies as seen with malathion and
atrazine.
For the
latter two chemicals, significant effects were seen even at concentrations
considered safe for drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Even
these very low levels of exposure could produce "dramatic effects on the
immune response" of the animals. And that, in turn, led to significantly
more growth defects.
Kiesecker
stopped short of endorsing any effort to further restrict use of atrazine and
malathion. But he said his results underscored the importance of studying toxic
chemical effects in a context approaching the complexity found in natural
ecosystems.
In this
case, he explained, the two farm chemicals "disturbed host-pathogen
interactions" with sometimes devastating effects. But all that would be
missed in traditional studies examining only the chemicals and the frogs in
isolation.
Some
other scientists, backed by the farm-chemical industry, challenged Kiesecker's
results. Although they said the new study was intriguing, they suggested the
details couldn't be trusted until corroborated independently.
===========================================
P A N U
P S
Pesticide
Action Network Updates Service
===========================================
Glyphosate
May Harm Beneficial Organisms
October
27, 1999
Glyphosate
may pose a significant risk to various predatory mites
and
parasitoids, according to a yet-to-be-released European
Community
(EC) report on the herbicide. Documents submitted to the
EC show
that even when correctly applied for intended uses,
glyphosate
may harm beneficial organisms. Because of these
potentially
significant impacts, widespread use of this broad
spectrum
herbicide may have adverse consequences for non-target
beneficial
species and biodiversity.
The
detailed report, produced by the German government as part of an
extensive
review process to determine which pesticides will be
allowed
for use in the European Union (EU), was completed in
December
1998. It is currently being discussed by member state
regulators
and has not been released to the public. Early next year,
regulators
and the EU should decide whether glyphosate will be added
to the
list of approved pesticides. However, the report calls for
the
decision to be postponed pending further studies.
Since
only a handful of pesticides have gone through the review
process,
individual countries' regulations are currently still in
force.
Eventually, any pesticides not included on the list will
effectively
be banned for use across Europe.
Monsanto
is the world's major producer of glyphosate (the active
ingredient
in Roundup), with manufacturing sites in the U.S.,
Belgium,
Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina. For the past several years,
sales
of Roundup have increased about 20% per year -- related in
part to
growth in the number of acres planted with Roundup Ready
crops
(crops genetically engineered to be tolerant to Roundup).
Preliminary
data indicate that approximately 112,000 tons of
glyphosate
were used worldwide in 1998.
Recently,
additional concerns surfaced regarding glyphosate's
possible
impact on human health. Two Swedish studies found an
increased
risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma linked to exposure to
glyphosate.
According to Professor Lennart Hardell, the studies'
principal
investigator, exposure to the herbicide increases the risk
of this
cancer by a factor of three. While Professor Hardell
acknowledges
that the sample size (four) in each study is low and
that
the risks of contracting non-Hodgkins lymphoma are small, he
believes
the risks are sufficient to warrant extensive additional
research.
There
have also been reports that weeds are becoming resistant to
the
herbicide. The latest case of glyphosate-resistant ryegrass in
Australia
has raised some concerns about the possibility of
widespread
resistance because it occurred even though the farmer was
using a
rotation system previously thought to be effective in
preventing
herbicide resistance.
The
Pesticides Trust (a United Kingdom non-governmental
organization)
has called for greater transparency in the EC
pesticide
review proceedings and release of pesticide review
documents
early in process.
Contact: Pesticide Action Network UK (former The Pesticide Trust)
56-64 Leonard Street London EC2A 4JX
Tel +44 (0) 20 7065 0905 / Fax +44 (0) 20 7065 0907
website
Sources:
Agrow: World Crop Protection News, January 29, March 12,
and
August 27, 1999. "Glyphosate," full transcript, Channel 4 News,
UK,
October 12, 1999. The Independent, October 12, 1999.
===========================================
Pesticide
Action Network North America (PANNA)
49
Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
Phone:
(415) 981-1771
Fax:
(415) 981-1991
Email:
panna@panna.org
Web:
http://www.panna.org
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