I have two concerns (apart from my general concern about the environment). First, I believe this is the herbicide that is used in Darebin Parklands, where we walk frequently.
Secondly, we have a back lane behind our house, one that is great for a short off-lead walk and also provides a private place to chase tennis balls. I asked our local council why a spray is used there and was told it's too expensive to mow it more than four times each year, so herbicides are used to keep the weeds down.
I've noticed that some weeds spring up immediately after the spraying in the lane and asked whether they might be Roundup-resistant, but the council official was non-committal about that.
However... now that I've read this article in Organic Gardener I see that there are now 16 weeds with confirmed resistance to this herbicide.
By the way, to clear up any confusion about what herbicide I'm talking about, here's a quote from the article:
Glyphosate is sometimes referred to by the original trade name Roundup, which was first marketed by Monsanto in 1974, and the two names are often used interchangeably.I don't like to use this product in my own garden, so it bothers me that Penny is likely to be exposed to it when we're out walking. There's a lot of work being done to regenerate indigenous plants in Darebin Parklands, and glyphosate is considered to be an essential tool in fighting introduced weeds.
The article says,
While bush regenerators maintain they couldn't do their work without it, emerging research may yet see glyphosate join the long list of pesticides that were once thought to be safe, but turn out to be harmful.The author says we tend to trust the story that glyphosate is relatively safe, but last year France's Supreme Court ruled that Monsanto had not told the truth about the safety of Roundup, and many Canadian municipalities restrict the use of any [
Humans can wear gloves and face masks when they use it, and cover all exposed skin. But if my dog walks through a recently sprayed area, she will place her bare paws on it, she will roll in it, she might chew a few blades of grass, she might drink from a puddle that is polluted with runoff.
And not just recently sprayed areas, either - here are a couple more quotes:
While regulators agree glyphosate has a relatively low acute (short-term) toxicity compared with other herbicides, recent research indicating possible long-term health effect is causing controversy...
Glyphosate is relatively persistent in soil, especially in cold climates, where residues have been found up to three years after use. In warmer climates it stays in the soil for between four and 180 days.
Penny likes to dig, sometimes.
23 comments:
Depends on how you use it.
If in tiny amounts, its not much worse than breathing air. If people are concerned about trace amounts of Roundup / Glyphosate, they ought also put respirators on their dogs.
Because even the dashboard of a new car, or carpet, releases chemicals. There is stuff from every house and every part of town floating in the air we breath.
Better to use less or use zero if possible, but also wise not to panic needlessly either.
Page about Roundup / Glyphosate and Ingesting
M.D.Vaden, thanks for the interesting comment. I read your page and found it reassuring in terms of my own minimal use of it in my garden.
Every time my husband sprays for weeds with roundup my Maltese gets sick and vomits all day..she eats the grass sometimes and of course licks her paws. I am worried the weed killer may be causing this
Used RoundUp on weeds around trees - noticed cat chewing on dead stalks more than once - cat now has liver cancer - are they related? Quit using RoundUp
Anonymous, that is so sad. I agree. I shouldn't use Roundup at all.
Hello there,
I'm a veterinarian and happen to read in this weeks Veterinary Record ( April 18, 2015, vol 176 / No 16) that cases of glyphosate poisoning are on the increase and there have been fatalities (this study was undertaken in Italy). It only gives a brief extract from the paper and does not suggest how the dogs get poisoned. If you are interested, look up: Glyphosate surfactant herbicide poisoning in domestic animals@ an epidemiological survery. Authors: Cortinovis, Davanzo, Rivolata, and Caloni. Best of luck.
Grace, thanks for this information. I'm going to have a look and see if I can find the article, or at least a summary of it.
I would like to see testing on long-term effects.
I quit using Roundup on my farm after two dogs, who weren't related to each other, and were of mixed-breed, died of cancer within 3 month of each other. They weren't allowed outside into the yard until a few hours after Roundup had dried.
Licking their paws after being in an area where Roundup had been used (e.g., on the gravel driveway and barnyard area) is what could have been a cause.
A veterinarian friend won't allow horses into his pasture until a certain amount of days have passed. Or, it has rained.
Another blogger relates this issue re cancer in:
http://www.dogforums.com/general-dog-forum/92319-how-dangerous-round-up.html
See: 9-11-2013 03:29 PM Nevaeh
"FOUR of our beloved dogs died of cancer years back when we were using Roundup!! And they were NOT allowed outside until it was dry. I stopped using it years ago after my dogs died of cancer and I developed RA overnight!"
I'd like to see a study re long-term effects of Roundup on people and dogs.
Ca W, your comment has reminded me of a friend from Argentina who has an adult handicapped niece and told me decades ago that the family believes it came about because at that time - hopefully not now!! - aircraft used to blanket the family farm with pesticides. I reckon it might have been some similar pesticide.
My angel Oreo died two weeks ago form of cancer when I took her two the Baisley park in queens ny a few times to run and she was fit and healthy ... I hate this this company for making this deadly chemical to be used in parks and not warning people about its dangers.
Oh, I am so sorry to hear about Oreo! I hope that your memories of the good times you had together might help you in this grief. I think it's awful that parks can be spread with this horrible killing chemical. I can't wait for the time to come when the human race realises what terrible things we are putting into the world.
Firstly round up is not a pesticide it's a herbicide. Pesticides should absolutely be a last resort and never used in places where people or animals go as they usually contain poisons that can easy affect us and pets. I am sceptical as to the danger to pets from round up though. In saying all this I love my dog and won't use it in my backyard.
Tbagz, thanks for picking up the fact that I'd referred in at least one place to Roundup as a pesticide. I'll scan the post and correct that. I agree with you that it's safest not to use even Roundup in our backyards if we have pets. I'd also think that because of the many small creatures that share my backyard, anyway.
My friend objected to Roundup being sprayed in her yard by apartment management, so the management had it sprayed nearby on a hill behind her townhouse. After a rain, he dog ate some grass in their yard and ended up with a major seizure followed by some small ones. We all know what caused it and just marvel at the stupidity and laziness of people who want to spray chemicals around willy-nilly instead of pulling weeds or mowing it. Roundup is dangerous to humans and animals alike. Rachael Carson warned us a long time ago and the BIG chemical companies just keep poisoning us. I always wonder why they don't mind poisoning their own children and grandchildren as well.
Joy, I'm so sorry to hear about that use of Roundup. How stupid of management not to know the stuff would run down a hill in the rain. I just looked on the Roundup site and they say not to use it if it might rain in the next six hours because it wouldn't have penetrated the leaves. I guess it must have rained behind your friend's townhouse in that time. I won't ever use it again, because I think the evidence is mounting that it's just not safe. (I have used it in the past, unfortunately - before I got a dog, thank goodness.)
Yes, it can cause poisoning. My cat drools and gets very weird -jumpy- after eating grass that's been sprayed. It can kill them if they get enough exposure.
Deborah, I think there's a move in Europe to ban glyphosate altogether as carcinogenic.
Seneff & Samsel have identified an even more worrying (than Cancer) way in which glyphosate is a chronic toxin. Their research shows that it gets incorporate into proteins and makes them non-functioning in the body, and this can happen at very low levels of exposure and is bio accumulating. This could be the root cause of the carcinogenic effect of glyphosate.
In 2016 a landscaping company spayed MAD DOG herbicide across the street from our home on a VERY windy day. The smell was overpowering. Neighbors and even people just driving by commented on the strong smell. My husband tried to talk to the man spraying (without protective gear), but he spoke little English. That night our bigger Yorkie began throwing up and pooping small amounts of blood. blood. (She had been out in th front yard with. My husband during the spraying.
The next day or two our smaller Yorkie began hemoraghing (blood spurting) from her mouth and rectum , and had to be raced to the Animal Emergency where she was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder. Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia (SP?). After months on steroids she finally recovered somewhat. By February 2017 she was the picture of health....Until last week. She once again began to hemoraging from the rectum. As I sat in th Animal ER and was told the auto-immune disorder had returned, I had a sick gut feeling as I remembered the landscapers working in our are of our HOA for the past week. They didn't appear to be spraying, but I allied the Management company just to check. They had PROMISED me that whenever spraying was scheduled in our community, they would notify me, and all other residents ahead of time. They said that, as promised last year, thy did NOT spray opposite our house, but they DID spray in an area that we walk our dogs. Because of a change in personnel, nobody was notified about the spraying.
Our vet has done all that could be done (transfusions, chemo, steroids, procedures, etc.......and has allowed us to take our precious pup home to either recover or die in comfortable surroundings. Our vet has assured us that, if our baby passes, it will NOT be painful for her.
QUESTION: Is this just coincidence, or could the herbicides be the cause? The landscaping company has refused to stop the spraying due to cost issues of other means of weed control. I'm worried for my dogs, small children, and adults in our community.
FYI: The name of the two herbicides used are (ironically) MAD DOG and FOUR SEASONS.
DJO, I am so sorry to hear about your worry. If you get a chance, can you come back and tell us how your little Yorkie is doing?
Hi, Anonymous. I followed up on your mention of Seneff & Samsel. Interesting discussion. Thanks for the info.
I took my beloved 14 1/2 year old Boston Terrier for a quick potty break a couple hours after my husband had sprayed roundup. It had started to rain and I thought nothing of it since it had been hours, I was barefoot too! All week I thought my Baxter was dying just from old age, but this morning something told me to Google my suspicion and I came across this blog. He was lethargic, inattentive, had stopped snoring!!! Lost his appetite, had orange diarrhea shooting out his bottom and vomiting. He couldn’t get comfortable in our bed and paced and woke up all night for the past several nights, shallow breathing, I just thought this was the end. I fed him boiled chicken and rice and tried to keep him comfortable. This morning, he is a little more like his old self and even snoring a bit. I pray we made it through the storm and have learned from our mistakes. Thank you all for your stories and I am sorry for all of the pain this herbicide has caused you and your dear pets. I am throwing that crap out and living with the weeds!
V Murphy, what a frightening thing to have happen. I hope Baxter is recovering okay. If you have a chance to do so, could you come back and let us know he is well again?
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