Cancer scare
WONTHAGGI’S Jessica Harrison wants to see the herbicide glyphosate – a possible cause of cancer – phased out of key areas of Bass Coast Shire.
Concerned for the health of children, pets and council workers who could be impacted, Ms Harrison believed glyphosate should not be used in schools, childcare centres and parks.
The chemical is commonly used to kill weeds and Ms Harrison said International Agency for Research on Cancer found glyphosate may be carcinogenic.
Correlations have been found between the herbicide and various cancers including non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Glyphosate exposure has also been linked to respiratory problems in farmers.
Ms Harrison said there has been a big international response to phasing out glyphosate and Bass Coast Shire Council should jump on board.
“One way to do it is to use soft fall matting in playgrounds. At the moment our playgrounds use bark chips, which can be soaked in glyphosate,” she said.
“It’s important for Bass Coast to be responsible and keep people as healthy as possible.”
Cr Neil Rankine said he uses a frog friendly form of glyphosate. Ms Harrison said this could potentially be a safer product, but would depend on the percentage of adjuvants present in the glyphosate formula. Adjuvants are additional agents that increase glyphosate’s toxicity.
“The effects of glyphosate are going to be argued long into the future,” Ms Harrison said.
“It’s up to us to set up a pilot scheme to phase out glyphosate.”
Ms Harrison put together a petition, which calls for council to review its duty of care for the health and safety of citizens – children in particular – and assess chemical free weed control – such as weed steaming and Bioweed – in areas where children play.
The petition also calls for the phasing out of glyphosate based herbicides near schools, playgrounds and children centres, and funding of a pilot scheme using alternatives to glyphosate as a first step.
Council received the petition at its meeting last Wednesday. It will lie on the table until the next meeting in October.
Cr Clare Le Serve thanked Ms Harrison for raising the issue, saying it took many years to highlight the health risks of substances such as asbestos.
Phase out chemicals: from left, Wonthaggi’s Liz Glynn, Jessica Harrison and Norm Glynn want to see glyphosate phased out of sensitive areas like schools, children centres and parks to protect the health of people and pets.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Sep 27 2016. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
