- Roundup, Rodeo and Pondmaster are the trade names for herbicides containing glyphosate, a broad-spectrum, non-selective systemic herbicide. The term "non-selective" refers to the chemical's ability to kill virtually any perennial and annual plant. Typically, glyphosate is marketed as an herbicide but is also occasionally used as a pesticide.
- Glyphosate herbicides have a strong tendency to persist in soil under the plants on which they are used. Glyphosate compounds bind tightly to the soil, so little if any glyphosate is lost from rain water runoff or irrigation. By one scholarly estimation, it can take up to 174 days for half of the glyphosate used in an herbicidal capacity to be broken down by microbes.
- Citing reports by the UK-based ENDS environmental policy journal and EPA research, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) found that though soil-bound glyphosate is inactivated, persistent glyphosate in soil may contribute to tree dieback and reduce winter hardiness and disease resistance in trees. Damage to maple trees and reduced nitrogen fixation was also observed in clover plants 120 days or longer after glyphosate treatments. Glyphosate was also found to be the second most toxic among nine herbicides tested to bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms living in soil.
- Summarizing research on glyphosate and Roundup, a Cornell University fact sheet concludes that glyphosate has little to no toxicity in humans and animals. The choice of whether or not to use Roundup or any other herbicide is a personal one, but it is always best to conduct as much of your own research as possible in order to fully understand any possible risks to health and environment associated with any herbicides you plan on using.
Active Chemicals in Roundup
Soil Persistence
Toxicity
Other Considerations
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