IT’S TIME TO STOP USING WEED KILLER CHEMICALS
Politician calls for council to scrap use of ‘poison’
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Advertising lynsey.gair@trinitymirror.com 07393 762401 lynsey.gair@reachplc.com kirsteen.brown@trinitymirror.com 0141 309 4312 A veteran politician has urged council chiefs to stop using weed killers containing a chemical he has called a “dangerous poison”.
The local authority uses glyphosate- based herbicides, a move which has seen bosses come under pressure from Councillor Eddie Devine.
He said: “This is a dangerous poison that is being spread in areas that the public use.
“Even if it is properly used it means we are putting a chemical on our ground that would not have been there otherwise.
“Have we learned nothing f ro m t h e m i c ro p l a s t i c s scandal?
“The earth is not a bottomless sink into which we can pour chemicals designed to kill.
“Some weeds have already developed resistance to this product so no one can say what the effects of our current overuse of glyphosate will have in the long-term.
“As a trade unionist I do not like the idea of council staff being exposed to this product as part of their daily work.
“I am calling for the phasing out of this product to be made a council priority.”
In November of 2017, EU countries voted to renew the licence of glyphosate for five years, despite the concerns surrounding it.
Councillor Devine raised the issue at Wednesday’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board.
He asked: “Could you tell me if we are working towards doing away with glyphosate?”
Gordon McNeil, the council’s director of Environment and Infrastructure, said: “We have undertaken a trial of a couple of other products.
“Around that point of time, there was a decision made on a licence for glyphosate from the European Union to go until circa 2022.
“Other products on the market were not able to provide the quality and functionality of the glyphosatebased products.”
Mr McNeill confirmed the council’s position was to “continue to seek alternatives”.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesman has since added: “The safety of our staff is paramount and all herbicides used in Renfrewshire, including glyphosate, have been approved as safe for use in accordance with European Union regulations.
“The glyphosate weed- control herbicide is used by the majority of councils in the UK and its continued use was unanimously approved by the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board members in January 2018.
“We have proactively trialled alternative products to test their effectiveness and officers have provided reports on their findings which show the glyphosate product currently provides the greatest quality and functionality for use in Renfrewshire.
“We will continue to monitor all current herbicides that we use and, if it is considered appropriate, we will move towards other products.”
The earth is not a bottomless sink into which we can pour chemicals designed to kill