On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:37:56 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:
Steve wrote:
On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:08:29 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:
You should think very carefully about the flammability
and toxicity risks too. Petrol is the only thing sold to the public
containing a significant amount of a known carcinogen (benzene).
Spraying petrol could be very nasty if there was a spark or any other
source of ignition. It is explosive in a wide range of air mixtures.
I agree but some of us can handle it safely. Others should not be
allowed anywhere near it 
)
You are headed for a Darwin award.
Really? Who will be fitting enough to award it?
I can just about understand an irrational fear of all "chemicals" in the
general public. But I find it hard to reconcile this with an intention
to spray petrol and/or diesel all over the place.
Try not to spoil a simple discussion by going off on a complicated
tangent.
How has a 50ft gravel drive suddenly become *all over the place*?
I made three test areas and all seem clear a week later.
Any issues with this do you think?
Glyphosate is much more environmentally friendly than everything except
the vinegar (and chances are that was industrially manufactured).
There are 1001 reasons for not using glyphosate. None of which you'll
here from the salesman who has us all duped in whatever we buy. Be it
weed killer or any other noxious chemical invented by Monsanto.
Glyphosate is relatively benign.
No it isn't it's a terrible substance and one we managed without for
many centuries and will continue to do so.
"Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide widely used to kill unwanted
plants both in agriculture and in nonagricultural landscapes.
Estimated use in the U.S. is between 38 and 48 million pounds per
year. Most glyphosate-containing products are either made or used with
a surfactant, chemicals that help glyphosate to penetrate plant cells.
Glyphosate-containing products are acutely toxic to animals, including
humans. Symptoms include eye and skin irritation, headache, nausea,
numbness, elevated blood pressure, and heart palpitations. The
surfactant used in a common glyphosate product (Roundup) is more
acutely toxic than glyphosate itself the combination of the two is yet
more toxic.
Given the marketing of glyphosate herbicides as benign, it is striking
that laboratory studies have found adverse effects in all standard
categories of laboratory toxicology testing. These include medium-term
toxicity (salivary gland lesions), long-term toxicity (inflamed
stomach linings), genetic damage (in human blood cells), effects on
reproduction (reduced sperm counts in rats; increased frequency of
abnormal sperm in rabbits), and carcinogenicity (increased frequency
of liver tumors in male rats and thyroid cancer in female rats).
In studies of people (mostly farmers) exposed to glyphosate
herbicides, exposure is associated with an increased risk of
miscarriages, premature birth, and the cancer non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Glyphosate has been called "extremely persistent" by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, and half lives of over 100 days have
been measured in field tests in Iowa and New York. Glyphosate has been
found in streams following agricultural, urban, and forestry
applications.
Glyphosate treatment has reduced populations of beneficial insects,
birds, and small mammals by destroying vegetation on which they depend
for food and shelter.
In laboratory tests, glyphosate increased plants' susceptibility to
disease and reduced the growth of nitrogen-fixing bacteria"
http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/R...tsheet-Cox.htm
Glyphosate is the environmentally friendly weedkiller of choice.
Not for anyone who cares about themselves or the planet they live on.
Not sure if you have noticed but we are dropping like flies these days
and not from old age. We may well never know just how bad all these
chemicals we produce are, but one things for sure we see the results
in our family membership lists getting shorter and shorter.
On that basis I think we have your views and you have mine. No need to
argue about it.