Rally in Prince George, November 12, 2020
calling for an end to Glyphosate spraying
Is it a good idea to pick and eat wild
raspberries and blueberries in forest cutblocks
in the Central and Northern Interior of British
Columbia? Not if these lands have been sprayed
with the weed-killer glyphosate sometime in the
last few years. And the same caution holds true
for wildlife such as moose and bears who,
besides berries, consume large quantities of
fireweed, willow and dogwood shoots, all of
which can contain low levels of glyphosate
residue for relatively long periods of time.
These are the
conclusions that can be drawn from a recently
published research study carried out by a team
of University of Northern BC scientists, N.
Botten, L.J. Wood, and J.R. Werner. Their
findings go directly against the message
repeated by the manufacturer of glyphosate,
Bayer-Monsanto, that the weed-killer quickly
disappears from the plants and general
environment after it is sprayed and is not
harmful to humans or wildlife.[1]
Currently, certain big forest companies
helicopter spray upwards of 17,000 hectares of
BC forests (especially in the Interior) with
glyphosate every year and this has been going on
since the early 1980s. The total area sprayed
amounts to 1.3 million hectares either sprayed
or manually brushed. The aim is to kill off
broad-leafed trees like birch and aspen and
facilitate the growth of the so-called "money
trees" spruce and pine. The forest companies are
obligated to do this under provincial government
regulation.
The results of this research study are
disturbing. For example, one year after
glyphosate treatment, 26 per cent of raspberry
and blueberry fruit samples taken from cut
blocks in the research study would be "deemed
unfit for human consumption" if assessed by
Canadian Food Inspection Agency standards.
Glyphosate and AMPA (the metabolite derived
from it) residues were detected in the fruits
for at least one full year after spraying. In
addition, low levels of weed killer residue
persisted in raspberry shoots, fireweed shoots,
and willow shoots for at least six years and in
fireweed roots for twelve years.
Indigenous people have said for years that
eating glyphosate-sprayed berries and medicinal
plants has sickened them, and there are
anecdotal reports of others being affected also.
The long-term effect on wildlife is unknown.
In the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, literally
thousands of lawsuits have been launched by
individuals who claim that they have contracted
cancer and other illnesses because of prolonged
exposure to glyphosate, with one terminally ill
groundskeeper being awarded $289 million in
damages in a California court. As a result, the
Bayer-Monsanto corporation has agreed to pay
$10.9 billion into a fund to settle the
thousands of other court cases.
What has been revealed in these legal
proceedings is that Bayer-Monsanto has been
systematically recruiting scientists to publish
studies that defend the use of glyphosate, going
so far as to "ghost write" a number of research
studies under their names. Unfortunately,
Canadian and American government authorities are
basing their decisions to allow widespread
glyphosate spraying on such deeply flawed
studies.
In BC, there is broad opposition by farmers,
trappers, foresters and others to
glyphosate spraying. An organization, Stop the
Spray BC has been founded specifically to
oppose the widespread spraying of the
weed-killer. The chemical has been banned for
use on crown lands in Quebec, and banned
completely in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and
other countries.
Yet the BC provincial government continues to
authorize the helicopter spraying of glyphosate
across our Interior forests, which are already
suffering from pine and spruce beetle epidemics,
overcutting, erosion, flooding, fires and a host
of other problems.
Now berry picking -- a pastime that many people
in the Central Interior and North have enjoyed
since time immemorial -- is threatened.
Note
1. N.
Botten,
L.J. Wood, & J.R. Werner,
"Glyphosate remains in forest plant tissues
for a decade or more, Forest Ecology
and Management, 2021.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 6 - June 6, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5100612.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
