by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Using glyphosate herbicide can wipe out local earthworm populations, a new study shows.
Authors: Marina Santadino, Carlos Coviella, Fernando Momo
While the full paper is available on-line it is behind a pay-wall, for anyone wanting to download it and thus the summary, aka abstract, will have to do, I guess. Though there is a way to read it there via the “Look Inside” button. Find the full paper here
Abstract: Pesticides' sublethal effects are not regularly taken into account when assessing agrochemical's toxicity. With the objective of detecting chronic, sublethal effects of the widely used herbicide glyphosate, an experiment was performed using the earthworm Eisenia fetida as model organism. Earthworm adults were randomly assigned to three glyphosate treatments: control (no glyphosate), regular dose for perennial weeds, and double dose. Six E. fetida individuals were placed in each pot. Two random pots were taken weekly from each treatment and the number of adults, individual weight, number of cocoons, and presence and number of young earthworms were recorded. A matrix analysis was performed with the data. The matrix population model built showed that while the control population had a positive growth rate, both glyphosate treatments showed negative growth rates. The results suggest that under these sublethal effects, non-target populations are at risk of local extinction, underscoring the importance of this type of studies in agrochemical environmental risk assessment.
I don't think it will take much explaining as to why therefore such herbicides, such as Roundup, etc., are detrimental to everything. Without earthworms the soil will die and so will we.
Not only need the use to be reevaluated, as the authors of the report state in the conclusion of it, it needs to be banned and all other glyphosate herbicides too.
Monsanto, and some others, are becoming the greatest threat to live on this Planet and it is time that a stop be put to their game, and that not just in the realm of herbicides but also and especially in the realm of genetically modified and engineered organisms.
As said, without earthworms (and one can but wonder what it does to other beneficial organisms) the soil will die and without healthy living soil plants will die and all animal life will too, including humans, for we are but animals, though we often behave much worse than them.
It is time for a change and that time is now... in fact it really was yesterday.
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