Subject: [permaculture] roundup- scientific literature
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 12:26:25 -0500
Hi Mark and all the rest,
I'm sure I'm not the only one on this list who disagrees with Mark on this
issue but in general thinks he's a pretty rad guy and is glad that he can
express himself on this list. Let's keep the ad hominems to a minimum and
deal with the issues.
Mark, you said that you don't know of much research that shows roundup to
be "all that bad". As it happens Dr Mabel Fisher, one of my professors did
her Ph.D dissertation on the environmental effects of Glyphosate (roundup)
and I am currently looking over her list of references to the scientific
literature. From what I can gather there seems to be a fairly large body of
scientific work that shows all sorts of negative environmental effects, from
mutagenesis in animals to destruction of soil fungi,lower hatching rates in
poultry, impairment of mating in aquatic organisms and impaired immune
response, just to name a few of them. She also found that some of the main
research publications showing roundup to be safe- including a world health
organization report published in 1994- are primarily based on articles that
were not published in peer reviewed journals but on studies that were
produced/contracted and published by Monsanto.
She also notes that the much hyped, rapid breakdown of glyphosate is only
true in particular soil types. Clay soils seem to bond with some of the
chemicals present in roundup and cause it to breakdown over much longer
periods.
It's also important to note that roundup is not just Glyphosate but also
contains other supposedly inert chemicals that according to Dr Fisher's
thesis have actually been found to have many negative physiological effects.
I'm not in the mood for a whole lot of typing right now so I won't list
all the references but if you like I would be happy to photocopy the
relevant reference pages and snail mail them to you.
Everything is groovy,
Charles Knoles
President
MUM Permaculture Club
email:
charles@growfood.org
Address:
2000 n.court #18e
Fairfield IA
52556
Ph:1 641 472 8911