04/09/2024
This is what six gallons of dandelions looks like. It took three hours to pull them, and I'm sure I missed some smaller ones that will have to be pulled when they get bigger. This is only my front yard. I let them flower, but pulled them (mostly) before they went to seed. Why?
Because I wanted to leave the yellow flowers for the bees. Also...
Because I unfortunately live under an HOA and can't naturalize my lawn. But most importantly, because....
Glyphosate (round-up) is not a chemical I will ever use. Why?
**PAUSE: If you're doing your best out here, I don't want to make you feel bad. That is NEVER my goal! ALL you can do you is your best. So if this information won't be useful to you, may I recommend stopping here, taking a few deep breaths while you unclench your jaw and release your shoulders, and have a wonderful rest of your day?**
Because...
It's listed as probable carcinogen by the WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
It was found in 66 out of 70 U.S streams and rivers in a US Geological Survey from 2015 - 2017.
Glyphosate, and the breakdown product it creates, AMPA, were found in over 60% of air and rain samples from three sites in 2010.
Glyphosate levels were found in 87% of children tested by the CDC in 2022.
A Center for Environmental Health study (2017) showed that kids have up to four times as much glyphosate in their bodies as their parents.
A longitudinal study published in 2023 by UC Berkley shows a correlation between glyphosate levels in children with liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, a follow up to a study linking glyphosate levels with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adults.
This pull quote needed to be included in full, but I'll sum it up below: Increasing evidence shows that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides exhibit cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, increase oxidative stress, disrupt the estrogen pathway, impair some cerebral functions, and allegedly correlate with some cancers. Glyphosate effects on the immune system appear to alter the complement cascade, phagocytic function, and lymphocyte responses, and increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in fish. In mammals, including humans, glyphosate mainly has cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, causes inflammation, and affects lymphocyte functions and the interactions between microorganisms and the immune system.
In other words, glyphosate hurts fish, which is especially problematic given how ubiquitous it is in US waterways, and in addition to being probably carcinogenic and increasing risk of non alcoholic fatty liver disease in humans, it also causes inflammation, hurts the immune system, and damages the gut microbiome.
And these effects are magnified in smaller mammals, like local wildlife and *pets.* Though many bottles say to keep pets off Round-Up/glyphosate-treated lawns for 6-24 hours, residue is present for up to 48 hours, leading animal hospitals to recommend keeping pets off treated grass for the full 48.
I could pay to have my lawn treated, or spend less time and elbow grease spraying my w**ds. And listen, there are plenty of other areas where I need to improve my environmental impact and lessen my family's toxic burden. But if you don't live in an HOA, I encourage you to make like Elsa and Let It Go. If you are unlucky enough to live under an HOA, I can recommend a great digging tool, and some great audiobooks to listen to while you w**d. 😉
If you're interested in knowing more about one of these specific findings and effects, there's loads of information out there, or feel free to ask it below. If you'd like to know where I got the numbers above, I can share some of the articles I used in creating this post.
The receipts if you're interested:
https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/etc.431
https://www.usgs.gov/news/herbicide-glyphosate-prevalent-us-streams-and-rivers
https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/research-highlights/childhood-exposure-to-common-herbicide-may-increase-the-risk-of-disease-in-young-adulthood
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2019/08/kids-carry-higher-levels-of-glyphosate-in-their-bodies-than-adults-study-finds/
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/Nchs/Nhanes/2013-2014/SSGLYP_H.htm
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32897110/
https://www.westparkanimalhospital.com/blog/w**d-killers-and-pets-how-to-safely-manage-your-lawn/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8622992/
