Glyphosate and toxic herbicides pollute the soils of North America not only in terms of agricultural use. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are now asking land managers to better document the use of herbicides.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himGlyphosate and toxic herbicides they pollute the land of North America not only for its use in agriculture. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are now asking land managers to better document the use of herbicides.
Herbicides were originally developed to eliminate weeds in agricultural fields but are now widely used in natural areas of the United States to get rid of non-native plants from other regions.
While the massive use of herbicides is well documented in crop fields, the new study is the first to reveal the amount of herbicides used in non-agricultural green areas. Researchers at the University of Montana found that more than 1,2 million acres of U.S. federal and tribal land were sprayed with 200 tons of herbicides in 2010.
"These figures are lower than those reported for cultivated fields but are still shocking" - said Viktoria Wagner, who led the study. The area of land involved is comparable to that of 930 thousand football fields while the quantity of herbicides used weighs with 13 school buses.
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The study also identified that glyphosate is the most widely used substance as a herbicide. This is rather unexpected given that glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide that damages all plants and therefore has the potential to eliminate native species as well, not just weeds and unwanted species from abroad.
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According to the researchers glyphosate is so popular because it is cheap and because there are no major restrictions on its use. Now the experts want to expand the methods of monitoring the use and effects of herbicides in the hopes of better managing their spread. The study in question was published in the scientific journal Journal of Applied Ecology.
Marta Albè
