News

Commonly used weed killer
suspected in cancer cases

By Mary Hladky

Citing the absence of proof that Roundup weed killer causes cancer and the high cost of using organic herbicides in city parks instead, Boca Raton City Council members are hesitant to stop using the world’s biggest selling weed killer.
Council members Sept. 12 considered the cost and effectiveness of organic alternatives to Roundup before deciding that city workers should continue testing organic products and looking for cheaper alternatives.
The discussion came just weeks after a San Francisco jury in August found chemical giant Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a school groundskeeper who alleged its glyphosate-based weed killers, including Roundup, caused his cancer and ordered the company to pay $289 million in damages. Monsanto has asked the judge to toss the jury verdict.
The award is expected to bolster thousands of similar cases pending across the country. Bayer AG, which acquired Monsanto earlier this year, said in September that it faces about 8,700 lawsuits related to Monsanto’s glyphosate products and expects more.
But the trial’s outcome does not mean glyphosate has been found to cause cancer. Rather, the jury concluded that Monsanto intentionally kept information about glyphosate’s potential harms from the public.
Evidence linking glyphosate to cancer is scant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, European agencies and the World Health Organization have found it to be safe. But the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic,” opening the floodgates to litigation. A number of cities, counties, states and countries have taken steps to restrict or ban glyphosate.
On Sept. 24, Stuart city commissioners voted to ban the use of glyphosate and will switch to organic products, at an increased cost of about $8,000 a year, said city spokesman Ben Hogarth. One day later, Martin County commissioners directed staff to come back to the board in 90 days with an integrated pest management plan to reduce the use of glyphosate with the goal of eliminating it, said spokeswoman Martha Ann Kneiss.
Boca Raton has been studying the cost and effectiveness of organics for a little more than a year in several parks.
A staff update to council members on Sept. 12 did not differ from a January update. Roundup is cheaper to use and more effective than organics, said Recreation Services Director Michael Kalvort.
“Roundup is widely used in the nation and the world because it kills so effectively,” he said.
Weeds treated with organic Avenger and Mirimichi Green started growing back after two weeks and had fully returned after a month. Those treated with Roundup had not returned after a month.
Since organic products need to be applied more frequently to keep weeds at bay, the cost increases. And additional employees and equipment are needed to use them.
Roundup costs just under $6,000 a year for 12 applications. Avenger must be applied 36 to 48 times a year, costing $39,000. Eliminating Roundup completely in three barrier island parks would cost $306,000, including the hiring of four additional groundskeepers and the purchase of two vehicles.
The city’s recently hired sustainability manager, Lindsey Nieratka, said more cities are trying to reduce the use of synthetic herbicides, but that means living with more weeds.
She suggested looking into using more native plants in landscaping, which can be maintained with less water, herbicides and pesticides.
“There are a lot of native plants that are beautiful and work,” she said.
Another option to consider, she said, is managing the expectations that residents have about the appearance of the city’s parks by getting the word out that if the city decides to use organic products, the trade-off will be more weeds.
Extrapolating from the cost figures Kalvort provided, Mayor Scott Singer said the cost of using organics at all city parks would be a significant expense.
“If you want to avoid a common household chemical that is widely used, used across the world, we are talking millions of dollars. I don’t think that is a viable solution,” he said.
Speaking of the California jury award, council member Monica Mayotte said, “It just makes me nervous. I don’t want to put our residents’ and our city workers’ health at risk from using all of this. We just need to balance the cost of our budget versus the cost of the lives of our park-goers.”
It is “imperative,” she said, to move away from synthetic herbicides, even if slowly.
She and Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers urged the use of more native plants.
They and other council members agreed the city should keep looking for less costly products. They also want staff to research Garlon, a herbicide used to kill invasive vines, that the organic advocacy group Green Boca Now contends blinds animals and kills trees.
They also encouraged staff to move ahead with testing a machine that uses steam to kill weeds and ants and can be used to sterilize garbage cans and other objects. Organic farmers are using it in Florida, Kalvort said.
“We would love to try it,” he said.
The hesitation to stop using Roundup stunned Green Boca Now member Lauren Quinn.
“We’re in shock they would consider using Roundup after that lawsuit,” she said after the meeting. But she is holding out hope that the city will decide to buy the steam machine.
“The steam machine is the answer to everything,” she said.