permaculture

[Bob <rmhoward@omninet.net.au>]

Toby Hemenway wrote:

> on 8/2/01 10:03 AM, Linda Smith at lsmitholy@aol.com wrote:
>
> > What exactly is Roundup?
>
> There's a very good PDF file on Roundup at
> http://www.beyondpesticides.org/index.html
> Scroll down to "pesticide fact sheets" and look under "glyphosate," the
> generic name for Roundup. If you can't deal with PDFs, let me know and I'll
> copy the text into an email.
>

Can't get there from here! i.e I can't see a link headed "pesticide fact 
sheet" on
this page.

[snip]

>
>  >Does it decompose
> > into inert chemicals as touted by Monsanto?
>
> Under perfect laboratory conditions, it decomposes into inert chemicals in a
> few days to weeks. In the field, it takes much longer (a half-life of over
> 100 days), and in water, especially buried in river sediments, it can take
> many years to decompose.

Depends on the field - 100 days in soil with low organic matter - much 
quicker in soil
with high organic content. Otherwise there's a lot of farmers who couldn't 
undertake
minimum tillage.  .

We should not jump to conclusions about the safety and hazard of Round up 
based upon
reports from Columbia - who knows what those idiots from Air Amerika are 
mixing in
with it.

Bob Howard