‘Extension of approval not prudent’

By Violette Geissen – University of Wageningen, 16 October 2017 | Source

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There has been a great deal of discussion about the use and extension of the approval of use of glyphosate as a herbicide. Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in Europe. In 2016 the approval by the European Commission for the use of this agent expired. However, an extension of approval of use is currently being discussed. One of the conditions of this is that the agent cannot have a negative impact on the health of people, animals and the environment. Yet, little attention has been given to the presence of glyphosate in agricultural soil as a result of the broad use of this agent in agriculture. A scientific publication written by an international group of scientists led by Wageningen University & Research has recently been published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. This article contains the details of more than 300 soil samples taken from agricultural land in ten European countries.

This study showed that 45% of agricultural land in Europe contains glyphosate and AMPA, the most stable degradation product of glyphosate. The presence and concentrations of AMPA were higher than that of glyphosate with some measurements as high as 2 mg per kilogram of soil.

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