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To: Torfaen County Borough Council

TORFAEN COUNCIL, STOP USING GLYPHOSATE

End the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in Torfaens publicly owned spaces maintained by the Council or their contractors and use a safe alternative such as Foamstream.

Why is this important?

Glyphosate-based herbicides such as RoundUp pose a real risk to the public, our environment and workers. Glyphosate has been banned in Holland, Denmark, Sweden and France and by some Councils around the UK such as Trafford, Brighton, Bristol and Croydon. B & Q are ceasing sale of Round-Up following links to cancer in the US.

Roundup kills beneficial insects. It has been proven to cause mortality of species including bees, predatory mites, lacewings, ladybirds and predatory beetles.

Argentinian studies suggest that glyphosate use leads to a decline in honeybee activity. The demise of the monarch butterfly population in New York has been blamed on glyphosate.

Glyphosate in soil takes approx 140 days to break down to half its toxicity and will continue to be taken up by plants from the soil for 2 years and longer. It’s toxic to earthworms and inhibits mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi are essential for tree health, collecting nutrients and water to feed their host plant and protecting tree roots from harmful fungi and root rot diseases.

Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that it was “probably carcinogenic”.
A court case against Monsanto was won by a man who developed cancer after using Roundup. He was awarded $289 million in damages.

Other councils now use eco-friendly alternatives such as non-toxic Foamstream. Methods such as Mesh-Tech are now also available to combat Japanese Knotweed.

This petition is supported by Independent (non group) Cllrs Elizabeth Haynes, Dave Thomas, Alan Slade, Jason O'Connell & Louise Shepphard.

How it will be delivered

To Torfaen Council

Torfaen Principal Area, UK

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Updates

2020-05-25 21:20:32 +0100

100 signatures reached

2020-05-25 14:22:28 +0100

50 signatures reached

2020-05-25 13:08:31 +0100

25 signatures reached

2020-05-25 12:51:11 +0100

10 signatures reached