Diquat is banned in the UK, EU, China and other countries. The US has resisted calls to regulate it
The herbicide ingredient used to replace glyphosate in Roundup and other weedkiller products can kill gut bacteria and damage organs in multiple ways, new research shows.
The ingredient, diquat, is widely employed in the US as a weedkiller in vineyards and orchards, and is increasingly sprayed elsewhere as the use of controversial herbicide substances such as glyphosate and paraquat drops in the US.
But the new piece of data suggests diquat is more toxic than glyphosate, and the substance is banned over its risks in the UK, EU, China and many other countries. Still, the EPA has resisted calls for a ban, and Roundup formulas with the ingredient hit the shelves last year.
The list of dangerous and deadly things banned everywhere else, but still legal in the US is amazingly long. And it is not only pesticides, supplements, paints, building materials, but mostly food.
But: Kinder Surprise is still highly illegal in America.
And people wonder why no one wants to import food from the U.S.
This. The only thing outside of oil we can export in mass is our agricultural products. But years of disinformation and corporations greed even our dirt is infected with their taint.
The US’s other major exports are cultural. Movies, music, and such.
Culture… Whenever I go over seas I’m actually surprised how fast US culture is disappearing. Movies, music, and such was something we held a strong monopoly on. But but that’s only because we’re the most technically advanced to mass produce such things. Now. Nearly every other nation especially China’s and Russia’s “Hollywood” pumps out enough content to satisfy their demographics. American (western) content used to be the only thing on the shelves over seas. Now we’re relegated to just a corner. The world doesn’t care as much about our pop music and movies. Those have greatly decreased in quality anyways.
I hope washing veggies prevents consuming this stuff otherwise rip.
Washing helps since glyphosate is pretty polar in structure meaning it’ll dissolve into water pretty readily.
Bad news is its half-life in water is anywhere from a few days to 91 days so if you’re living in an area that gets it’s water supply anywhere near where people are spraying that shit on the regular you might be kinda fukt anyways 💀
https://www.npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/glyphotech.html
Rain will wassh it off into your water supply. Washing your food wont help.
My strict diet of bread, cheese and highly processed red meat means I don’t need to worry about washing vegetables.
Checkmate, healthy eaters!
If you have to hope, it probably doesn’t.
Diquat is banned in the UK, EU, China and other countries.
Notice Canada is not listed as a country that bans diquat. It is legal and available here.
Whenever I read here Canadians here hoping for EU membership, I think about this: I’m sorry mates but you having chosen the insanelly unsafe rules of the US for all kinds of things, most notably food safety, means your regulations are totally incompatible with merelly Single Market membership (which would literally allow free export of that dangerous shit to the rest of the Single Market), much less EU membership.
Decades of regulatory alignment with the US means that all manner of Canadian products are dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed into the EU, and now that your southern neighbor has shown its true colors beyond any doubt you should start unravelling that regulatory shit-show and align more with EU style regulation but, having lived in the UK when Carney was the head of the Bank Of England, I doubt he’s the man for it: it’s my impression that he’s a man who knows who butter his bread - and that ain’t the common folk - and it’s for them he works.
I agree. Carney’s a banker. We already know whose side he’s on.
We have a pretty strong follow the leader vibe here in Canada when it comes to regulation. It’s fucked.
also some weeds are becoming resistant to glyphospate, they will have to keep using ever increasing toxic herbicide to combat it.
The trolls will be here claiming that it isn’t proven in 3…2…1…
The research further scrutinizes how the substance harms the kidneys, lungs and liver. Diquat “causes irreversible structural and functional damage to the kidneys” because it can destroy kidney cells’ membranes and interfere with cell signals. The effects on the liver are similar, and the ingredient causes the production of proteins that inflame the organ.
Meanwhile, it seems to attack the lungs by triggering inflammation that damages the organ’s tissue. More broadly, the inflammation caused by diquat may cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, a scenario in which organ systems begin to fail.
🫥
Sounds like secretary brainworm will be all over this before you can say brainworm. This is the kind of thing that is right up his alley. Harmful chemicals in our food supply? He is so against that, and will certainly do something for this very very very soon. I have complete faith.
/s 😭
The largest billboard on my way to work says stop punishing farmers–don’t ban glysophate. I’ve been complaining about the toxic state of the missouri river since highschool. People don’t care. For killing weeds on gravel, dillute some white vinegar and add dish soap to kill weeds. It’s a cost effective and environmentally friendly weed killer. That, and blocking light with cardboard.
There’s an attachment for a skidsteer that will turn over a gravel driveway in a hurry and it’s basically new again afterwards.
Ah shit the grass killer I have has diquat. But the weed killer variant from the same brand doesn’t have it, which is interesting.
Just don’t get it in your body and you’ll be fine. (This includes eating foods sprayed with it without washing. Maybe also foods grown in contaminated soil; I didn’t read the article or study thoroughly.)
Personally I use Natria weed killer (https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/natria-grass-weed-control-with-root-killer-1-gal-707201a), active ingredients: Ammoniated soap of fatty acids, Maleic Hydrazide. I still wouldn’t get it in your body, but I’m pretty sure it’s less harmful and breaks down into harmless components much quicker.
Of course it’s also less effective, so it might take multiple applications, but that’s to be expected.
Diquat bonds strongly to mineral and organic particles in soil and water, where it remains without significant degradation for years. However, bound to clays, diquat is biologically inactive at the concentrations typically observed in agricultural soils.
Unfortunately, the “just don’t eat it” idea doesn’t work so well when it persists in the environment for so long
The problem is all that ends up in the groundwater. Obviously industrial use is the problem, but I think it is responsible to avoid any herbicide especially if it is just to make your yard “look nice”.
Yall should try a stirrup hoe or hula hoe.
I would, but that doesn’t work for stuff coming up through cracks in concrete, or through chain link fence. Most of the stuff I spray is stuff I can’t pull.
I had some oriental bittersweet coming up, and for that I dug down and pulled as much as I can, didn’t even bother spraying. But there’s also Virginia creeper and black swallow-wort around here mixed in with other stuff, including on the property line that I can’t physically reach to pull. So that stuff I spray. (The neighbors basically let it grow wild, so they dgaf, I just keep it minimal.)
I would, but that doesn’t work for stuff coming up through cracks in concrete, or through chain link fence.
For that sort of stuff, I recommend vinegar or propane. lMO the only reason to use a fancy commercial herbicide is when you need it to be selective, e.g. when you’re trying to get rid of broad leaf lawn weeds without killing the grass, too. (Edit: I’m not endorsing that as a good reason, BTW, as I’m more of a [email protected] sympathizer myself. I’m just saying that it’s the only one that’s even plausible.)
And a tiger torch weed burner is super fun. Who doesn’t wanna play with fire and burn shit?!
I’ll look into vinegar for the next round, thanks.
Yeah those ones I been going manually. Ripped out and burned so much ivy and st johns wort… I just don’t want to spray so bad ill break my back every month
Is nobody going to mention that the chemical is called “dick wad”?
Whoa whoa! Slow down! We haven’t even gotten rid of food dyes, flouride, vaccines, and seed oils yet. Gotta get at the back of the MAHA Train!
So the only thing that I haven’t been able to figure out - is the danger from glyphosphate and now diquat the vapor after spraying or consumption of plants in close proximity?
I think the study alludes more to consumption of stuff exposed to it in agriculture. But I am interested as well because the grass killer I use at home has diquat, and while I wear shades and a mask when spraying, I can still smell a hint of it.
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This is what happens when you vilify the safest weed killer ever discovered because “chemicals are bad”.
Not to mention that the kind of anti-scientific hysteria around glyphosate led directly to Robert Kennedy Junior.
You’re getting downvoted to hell, but you’re correct as far as I’ve been able to figure.
Old school roundup/glyophosphaste is a very safe herbicide. The surfactants and contaminants in it are likely more toxic and environmentally persistent than the active ingredient. Diquat and such, however, is being linked to lymphomas and other nasty things. It’s difficult to find just glyophosphaste now, all the roundup versions are mixtures containing diquat.
No, this is what happens when you (a) have a “allowed until proven unsafe” regulatory framework instead of a “prohibited until proven safe” one, and perhaps more importantly (b) abjectly refuse to consider any weed control method other than ones that can be accomplished by indiscriminate use of a sprayer.
“Allowed until someone is sued for doing it and insurance can’t keep paying out” more likely.
If your proscriptions were adopted, at least 4 billion people would starve and/or die from disease.
Kennedy doesn’t care.
Stop growing fucking soy, canola and corn for fuel and plastic and it’s easy to feed everyone. It’s not about feeding people it’s about money.
