New herbicide sought:

Colombia is seeking a less toxic herbicide to restart aerial fumigations of coca crops, the director of the national police said, after the Andean country halted spraying with the chemical glyphosate due to health concerns.

The government said in May it would call off aerial spraying of coca plants, which are used to make cocaine, because of World Health Organization warnings that the chemical is carcinogenic.

“We are looking for a different herbicide to glyphosate that will be effective for controlling and neutralizing illicit crops, particularly the coca leaf, so it stops being a risk for people’s health and the environment,” General Rodolfo Palomino, the head of the national police, told Reuters on Tuesday.

“It’s not easy, but it’s also not impossible,” he said. “The challenge is finding an herbicide that can be dropped from planes without collateral damage.”

The police force is experimenting with various chemicals, Palomino added, and hopes to find the right one so it can restart fumigations. (RTRS)