Glyphosate risk assessment urgently needed
The New Zealand Environmental Protection Agency’s call for information on the use of glyphosate in Aotearoa is a missed opportunity to properly risk assess the substance says Jodie Bruning, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association.
Today the EPA extended the process for a second time. Submissions were due to close today but now close on October 22nd.
“The NZEPA is delaying. This call for information should be integrated into a genuine risk assessment of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides sold and used in this country.
“Government is moving to review glyphosate because it knows that glyphosate causes health and environmental damage. But the major users of glyphosate will fight strongly to keep hold of it.
“On behalf of the thousands of New Zealanders who want action to reduce the harm from toxic agrichemicals we’re making this submission as part of the call for information.
The key points in the Soil & Health Association submission are:
- A glyphosate risk assessment is needed urgently
- The health risks from glyphosate keep getting bigger
- Farmers and applicators are exposed more often than regulators assume
- New mowing and robotics technology mean there’s no excuse for spraying roadsides and urban environments
- The economic risks to glyphosate-based herbicides are real and growing
“Further delays to this process are unacceptable and we need to get on with the formal risk assessment,” says Bruning.
ENDS
