Monsanto's "New Agent Orange" used in Columbia

December 6, 2000 8:40 AM

Monsanto's "New Agent Orange" used in Columbia "The herbicide glyphosate has been blamed for destroying acres of trees and contaminating wells, streams and ponds. . . long term ecological effects could be severe."
posted by snakey (12 comments total)

I picked this link from the excellent Unknown News.

I used some Roundup on some weeds one time -- the stuff was potent. It killed everything, anywhere even the smallest drop of it fell. Dandelions, grass, flowers, you name it.

Just the thing we need to spray in the Amazon, eh? Not to worry, I hear the USA's next step against the evil coca plant is to spread a genetically modified franken-fungus throughout the region. Now won't that be nice of us?
posted by snakey at 9:23 AM on December 6, 2000

Roundup is bad news, it not only kills the plant, but it destroys the soil as well.
This is wrong.
posted by thirteen at 9:26 AM on December 6, 2000

Bad, bad bad. But we're doing it anyway. When are the anti-war protests gonna start?
posted by snakey at 10:07 AM on December 6, 2000

Actually, I don't know about destroying the soil, thirteen. We used to use Roundup to clear fence rows on our ranch. It killed everything that was there, but the next year, stuff was growing through again.
posted by CRS at 10:50 AM on December 6, 2000

One nice side effect of roundup is that it lowers the sperm count in mammals. . . Hey, wait a minute, I'm a mammal! Maybe this isn't so good after all . . .
posted by snakey at 11:34 AM on December 6, 2000

Sorry, here's the link to the lowered sperm count study.
posted by snakey at 11:49 AM on December 6, 2000

Yay! Now the price of Cocaine will be even higher, causing even more crime to be associated with it. Duh.
posted by Wizzle at 3:00 PM on December 6, 2000

A series of suicides and attempted suicides in Japan during the 1980s using Roundup herbicide allowed scientists to calculate a lethal dose of six ounces. The herbicide is 100 times more toxic to fish than to people, toxic to earthworms, soil bacteria and beneficial fungi, and scientists have measured a number of direct physiological effects of Roundup in fish and other wildlife, in addition to secondary effects attributable to defoliation of forests. Breakdown of glyphosate into N-nitrosoglyphosate and other related compounds have heightened concerns about the possible carcinogenicity of Roundup products.
CRS: I only remembered what I posted in passing. It seems it is not quite as devastating to soil as I originally posted, but I do know that if you spray the stuff on a field with roundup ready plants, you need to add an additive to make a crop grow the next year. I assumed the soil was damaged. With spot application, I can imagine nature reclaiming the ground quickly.
posted by thirteen at 3:29 PM on December 6, 2000

This is so much more satisfying that fighting communism, ain't it boys?
posted by lagado at 3:51 PM on December 6, 2000

couple this with yesterday's discussion and we could get rid of the whole pesky Amazon rainforest.
posted by snakey at 4:02 PM on December 6, 2000

And let's not forget it may increase your risk of getting Parkinson's.
posted by dhartung at 12:30 AM on December 7, 2000

Parkinsons shmarkinsons. Our Apache attack helicopters will have killed off all the peasants before they show any symptoms.

Then we can hand the land over to Occidental petroleum for a pittance. No fuss, no muss.
posted by snakey at 9:31 AM on December 7, 2000