Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,

Please could you send me information related to any risk assessment research undertaken by Wirral Council into the use of Roundup weedkiller on Hoylake beach. Please could you also indicate the volume of the substance used per square metre.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Howard

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you for the response. I must confess to some considerable alarm that the 'Risk Assessment' appears to rely for a large part on product claims by Monsanto, manufacturers of Roundup, a company with something of a track record of exaggerated product claims according to various international courts.

Basic online research shows that the EU classifies Roundup as "R51/53 Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment." This classification is acknowledged by the UK's HSA.

That said I acknowledge that Local Authorities around the UK use the product extensively in public spaces despite its classification and that no proven adverse effects appear to have been reported.

Tests on Roundup (largely in other countries) have concluded that:
• Laboratory studies have shown teratogenic effects of Roundup in animals; Glyphosate has caused birth defects in laboratory animal tests.
• A 1998 study on mice concluded that Roundup is able to cause genetic damage.
• A 2000 review concluded that there were risks to aquatic organisms exposed to Roundup in shallow water.
• Fish and aquatic invertebrates are more sensitive to Roundup than terrestrial organisms.
• Even at concentrations one-third of the maximum concentrations expected in nature, Roundup still killed up to 71 percent of tadpoles raised in outdoor tanks.
• Campaigners brought a case in France in 2001 for presenting Roundup as biodegradable and claiming that it left the soil clean after use; in January 2007, Monsanto was convicted of false advertising.

I acknowledge that in the UK Roundup is widely used both in public spaces and in private gardens. It has become so ubiquitous that, perhaps, the risks associated with it are 'ignored'; there appears to be no evidence of it causing harm in the environment, only under laboratory conditions. Glyphosate on its own produces different results to those gathered from glyphosate when combined with other ingredients in Roundup.

I for one am uneasy about the use of any chemicals such as this on the beach, in volumes much larger than those on, say public parks. I am concerned by the findings above; not least its classification by the EU seems to contradict that claimed by the company and accepted by Wirral Council without apparent further research.

Are there any further reassurances you can give me to justify the use of chemicals on the beach?

Yours sincerely,

Mark Howard

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you very much for the additional information which I will read with interest.

My question about the classification of Roundup appears to remain unanswered; I hope the following is helpful in this regard.

I understand that the EU classification of the product as "R51/53 Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment" is a recent amendment to the product classification, coming into effect only in April 2012; some time after the Council's Risk Assessment was undertaken.

My concern really is this clear contradiction between this rather alarming classification and the manufacturers' own product claim, cited in the Risk Assessment by Wirral Council, that it "is non-residual and does not harm animals, birds, fish, insects and other wildlife".

Could it be that the Monsanto statement quoted is actually out of date, and if so, is there a need for a further risk assessment before further spraying is undertaken?

Yours sincerely,

Mark Howard

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you very much. The information you sent was indeed very helpful.

I think a conversation about the issues would be very welcome and I will follow up on this asap.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Howard