In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), (the research wing of the World Health Organisation), declared that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide/ weedkiller was ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’.
Many countries have responded to this: in June 2015 the French Government restricted its sale in garden centres and over the counter sales; in July 2016, Malta voted to impose a full ban. UK local authorities are also phasing it out, recognising the dangers it poses – e.g. the City of Edinburgh Council passed a motion in October 2015 to restrict its use. Hackney Council started trialling other weedkillers in July 2016. Others are following suit.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to West Lothian Council in May 2015 asking how much glyphosate is being used across the WL area, particularly around parks, play areas and schools, the Council stated “it used 1995 litres of glyphosate, as well as 224 litres of Nomix Duel which is a mixture of Glyphosate and Sufosufuron”. The Council is clearly using this as a common method of weed control.
On September 4th 2016, the charity ‘Children With Cancer UK’ published UK statistics which showed that there are 1,300 more cancer cases a year compared with 1998, the first time data sets were published. The rise is most apparent in teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 24, where the incident rate has risen from around 10 cases in 100,000 to nearly 16. The number of young people diagnosed with cancer in the UK has risen by 40% in the past 16 years due to numerous factors, including air pollution, pesticides, poor diet and radiation. Much of this is preventable.
This petition calls on West Lothian Council to:
• Adopt the precautionary principle (as agreed by the UK at the Rio Conference in 1992), namely that when there is evidence of harm or potential harm to people or the environment from a substance or process, then action should be taken to remove that hazard, even in the absence of definitive scientific evidence.
• Investigate alternatives to glyphosate based herbicides as methods of weed control and trial safer alternatives in the Council area.
