The toxicity of the Dicamba herbicide is worth reviewing. Both pure Dicamba and Banvel proved to increase sister-chromatid exchange in human lymphocytes. The study concluded that Dicamba is a DNA damage agent and potentially hazardous to human [12]. Dicamba proved genotoxic in mutation tests using transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants [13]. Dicamba was found to be a peroxisome proliferator in rats, an activity associated with liver cancer in rodents [14]. Dicamba is certainly not safe or environmentally friendly, and its increased deployment must be resisted.
Dicamba is relatively persistent in the environment and it is only slowly degraded in turf grass [15]. In Saskatchewan, Dicamba was found to leach into the South Saskatchewan river, a source of drinking water for urban populations [16]. High levels of Dicamba were observed in rivers draining two prairie watersheds, Manitoba streams draining agricultural lands were elevated during the herbicide application period in May and June [17].
Predictably, the overuse of herbicides in GM crops has resulted in the GM crops becoming obsolete as weeds become herbicide resistant. Introducing GM crops resistant to an old polluting phenoxy herbicide seems like a measure of sheer desperation, turning an environmental disaster into a real catastrophe.
The only way to deal with the problem of herbicide resistant weeds and volunteers is to return to sustainable, organic agriculture, free of polluting herbicides.
Dicamba is relatively persistent in the environment and it is only slowly degraded in turf grass [15]. In Saskatchewan, Dicamba was found to leach into the South Saskatchewan river, a source of drinking water for urban populations [16]. High levels of Dicamba were observed in rivers draining two prairie watersheds, Manitoba streams draining agricultural lands were elevated during the herbicide application period in May and June [17].
Predictably, the overuse of herbicides in GM crops has resulted in the GM crops becoming obsolete as weeds become herbicide resistant. Introducing GM crops resistant to an old polluting phenoxy herbicide seems like a measure of sheer desperation, turning an environmental disaster into a real catastrophe.
The only way to deal with the problem of herbicide resistant weeds and volunteers is to return to sustainable, organic agriculture, free of polluting herbicides.
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