Glyphosate in Agriculture & Horticulture

‘workin on it

Carex Canada: Glyphosate Profile
“CAREX Canada (CARcinogen EXposure) is a multi-institution team of researchers and specialists with expertise in epidemiology, risk assessment, toxicology, geographic information systems, and knowledge mobilization. The purpose of CAREX Canada is to provide a body of knowledge about Canadians’ exposures to known and suspected carcinogens, in order to support organizations in prioritizing exposures and in developing targeted exposure reduction policies and programs. CAREX Canada is funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and hosted at Simon Fraser University.”
QUICK SUMMARY
A synthetic herbicide widely used in agriculture, forestry, industrial sites, and aquatic environments
Associated cancers: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (limited evidence)
Most important routes of exposure: Inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion
Uses: Kills grasses, annual and perennial plants, vines, shrubs, and trees; many crops such as soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola have been genetically engineered to resist glyphosate
Occupational exposures: An estimated 38,000 to 56,000 workers are exposed to glyphosate in the agricultural sector
Environmental exposures: Over 2 million people in Canada live in areas with higher potential for glyphosate exposure
Fast fact: Glyphosate is the most widely sold and applied pesticide in Canada.

‘Troubling allegations’ prompt Health Canada review of studies used to approve popular weed-killer
Gil Shochat · CBC News · Posted: Nov 11, 2018 “Health Canada says in light of “troubling allegations,” its scientists are reviewing hundreds of studies used during the approval process for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Canada’s most popular herbicide, Roundup.”

Jurors give $289 million to a man they say got cancer from Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller
Holly Yan for CNN. Summary to the case and issues.”Johnson, 46, applied Roundup weedkiller 20 to 30 times per year while working as a groundskeeper for a school district near San Francisco, his attorneys said. He testified that during his work, he had two accidents in which he was soaked with the product. The first accident happened in 2012. Two years later, in 2014, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”

New Study Shows Roundup Kills Bees
BY AUSTIN PRICE for sierreaclub.org | OCT 3 2018. The article cites this scientific publication: Glyphosate perturbs the gut microbiota of honey bees, Erick V. S. Motta et al., 2018 PNAS 115 (41) 10305-10310. From Significance of the PNAS paper: “Increased mortality of honey bee colonies has been attributed to several factors but is not fully understood. The herbicide glyphosate is expected to be innocuous to animals, including bees, because it targets an enzyme only found in plants and microorganisms. However, bees rely on a specialized gut microbiota that benefits growth and provides defense against pathogens. Most bee gut bacteria contain the enzyme targeted by glyphosate, but vary in whether they possess susceptible versions and, correspondingly, in tolerance to glyphosate. Exposing bees to glyphosate alters the bee gut community and increases susceptibility to infection by opportunistic pathogens. Understanding how glyphosate impacts bee gut symbionts and bee health will help elucidate a possible role of this chemical in colony decline.”

Technical aspects of use

Glyphosate Use for Optimum Field Performance
On pioneer.com. Rates, resistance issues etc

Monsanto’s global weedkiller harms honeybees, research finds
The Guardian, Sep 24, 2018
Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infections