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sl8

(16,245 posts)
Sat Nov 18, 2023, 06:37 AM Nov 2023

EU allows use of controversial weedkiller glyphosate for 10 more years

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03589-z

NEWS
17 November 2023

EU allows use of controversial weedkiller glyphosate for 10 more years

In the wake of a stalemate among member states, the European Commission has decided to approve the herbicide’s continued use.

Barbara Casassus

After months of wrangling, the European Commission says it has decided to renew the license for the weedkiller compound glyphosate, approving its use in European Union countries for ten more years.

Following the decision yesterday, the Commission released a [link:ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_23_5792|statement] saying that, on the basis of comprehensive safety assessments carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), it would renew the licence, “subject to certain new conditions and restrictions”.

These include a ban on the use of the chemical to dry crops before harvest, and “the need for certain measures to protect non-target organisms”. Governments can still restrict the use of glyphosate in their own countries if they consider the risks too high, particularly in regard to the need to protect biodiversity, the statement added.

Safety debate
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most widely used herbicide. Over the years, a debate has developed about whether the chemical is safe to use on food crops, as well as its possible environmental impacts. Some studies point to a link between glyphosate and certain cancers1; others suggest that the way in which it is used should not harm consumers2. Glyphosate has been investigated extensively by food- and chemicals-safety agencies, but disagreements among researchers remain.

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EU allows use of controversial weedkiller glyphosate for 10 more years (Original Post) sl8 Nov 2023 OP
Because there's not enough vinegar in China to treat all those weeds bucolic_frolic Nov 2023 #1
Pretty shocked. EU standards are thorough and strictly enforced. This stuff is insidious and dangerous. marble falls Nov 2023 #2
Yeah, fuck the food web! Fuck the bees! redqueen Nov 2023 #3

bucolic_frolic

(46,973 posts)
1. Because there's not enough vinegar in China to treat all those weeds
Sat Nov 18, 2023, 06:54 AM
Nov 2023

and no one knows the impact on supply chains of alternative weed killing ideas or products, one of which is direct flame burning with natural gas, like a blow torch, which is sure to be adverse to climate change.

marble falls

(62,047 posts)
2. Pretty shocked. EU standards are thorough and strictly enforced. This stuff is insidious and dangerous.
Sat Nov 18, 2023, 09:40 AM
Nov 2023

redqueen

(115,164 posts)
3. Yeah, fuck the food web! Fuck the bees!
Sat Nov 18, 2023, 10:25 AM
Nov 2023

Humans and our cult of capitalism are the only things that matter!

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