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State Senator Wants Parks Department to Stop Using Carcinogenic Weed Killer


April 23, 2015 | Liam Mathews

State Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) released a statement on Wednesday calling for a moratorium on use of the weed killer Roundup, citing a recent World Health Organization report that says that the active ingredient, glyphosate, is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Senator Hoylman’s statement reads, in part:

“The initial research on Roundup is extremely troubling. Experts from the WHO have concluded the chemical glyphosate used in Roundup probably causes cancer in humans. It’s therefore prudent to protect New Yorkers potentially exposed to Roundup by halting sales until the research shows that it’s otherwise safe to use.”

Hoylman wants to propose legislation banning the sale of products containing glyphosate in New York State.

According to DNAinfo,

“The product was the most-used herbicide in city parks in 2013, according to a report by the city’s health department using the most recent data available. It was applied 1,226 times by the Department of Parks and Recreation in 2013, including near playgrounds.”

Roundup is owned by notoriously evil chemical and agriculture behemoth Monsanto, whose CEO told Fortune that he doesn’t see the WHO’s report accusing his product of causing cancer as affecting Roundup sales, and he’s probably right, unfortunately.

(Photo: Mike Mozart)