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Aminopyralid Herbicide contaminated manure threat 17.06.10
The Soil Association and the Organic Growers Alliance (OGA) are calling on growers and gardeners to be vigilant following renewed cases of damaged crops due to manure contaminated with the herbicide aminopyralid. The symptoms exhibited on the crops are twisted, cupped, and elongated leaves; misshapen fruit; reduced yield; death of young plants; and poor seed germination.
Aminopyralid is a dangerous chemical which has caused serious damage and both the Soil Association and OGA want it banned from sale. It has been discovered that it can remain active, damage subsequent crops, and can pose a human health threat, even after the crop to which it has been applied has been eaten by a horse or cow, passed through the animal, been stored as farm yard manure, and eventually applied to another crop.
After government lobbying by the Soil Association, OGA, Garden Organic, and others, and following many cases of damage to crops in 2008, the product was withdrawn from sale by the manufacturers Dow AgroScience Ltd. It was then re-instated in September 2009 by the Chemicals Regulations Directorate (CRD), with supposed ‘enhanced stewardship requirements’ which are in fact unenforced, and despite a petition on the Prime Minister’s website which raised over 1500 objections and a submission from concerned allotment holders.
Ben Raskin, Soil Association Horticultural Advisor, said:
“The problem has not gone away and there may still be manure around that contains herbicide from 2008. It may also be that the ’stewardship’ proposals, which aim to prevent manure leaving farms where aminopyralid has been used, are not working. We urge growers to be careful about where they are sourcing their manure from.
“This product should never have been relicenced - manure contaminated with this herbicide is no longer a valuable resource for gardeners but a toxic waste product. The fact that this hormone weed killer is still causing significant problems for growers despite this industry attempts to prevent damage means that it should be immediately banned by the government.”
Notes:
[1] Aminopyralid is the active ingredient in a broadleaf herbicide used to control weeds on non-organic grasslands. It is marketed under the brand names Forefront and Mileway by Dow AgroSciences.
[2] For information on the reinstatement of Aminopyralid and Dow’s advice see their website: http://www.manurematters.co.uk
[3] Some instances of manure contamination are recorded here:
http://glallotments.co.uk/Manureistheproblemback.aspx
http://glallotments.co.uk/ACManure.aspx
About The Organic Growers Alliance:
The Organic Growers Alliance is a membership based organisation supporting organic horticulture throughout the UK.
http://www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk
About the Soil Association:
The Soil Association is the UK’s leading environmental charity campaigning for sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.
http://www.soilassociation.org
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