[APWG] Fw: frogs & roundup

[Jil_Swearingen at nps.gov]

Hi,

Please see article below about the impacts of the surfactant
"polyethoxylated tallowamine" on amphibians. The surfactant is an
ingredient in Roundup. Glyophosate was not responsible for the frog kills.

Thank you,

Jil

----- Forwarded by Jil Swearingen/NCR/NPS on 04/05/2005 01:35 PM -----
                                                                                                                                    
                      Bruce Badzik                                                                                                  
                                               To:                                                                                  
                      04/04/2005 03:11         cc:                                                                                  
                      PM PDT                   Subject:  Fw: frogs & roundup                                                        
                                                                                                                                    



In case you have not seen this yet. It is important to note that at the
bottom of the article, it notes that it is not glyphosate that causes the
problem, but the surfactant. This is something that is not new news,
contrary to the last line of the article. That is why there is Aqua Master
(formerly Rodeo), it is Roundup without the surfactant. The use of Roundup
in a manner such as done in this study would be a violation of the law.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Roundup® highly lethal to amphibians, finds University of Pittsburgh
 researcher

 PITTSBURGH--The herbicide Roundup® is widely used to eradicate weeds. But
 a study published today by a University of Pittsburgh researcher finds
 that the chemical may be eradicating much more than that.

 Pitt assistant professor of biology Rick Relyea found that Roundup®, the
 second most commonly applied herbicide in the United States, is "extremely
 lethal" to amphibians. This field experiment is one of the most extensive
 studies on the effects of pesticides on nontarget organisms in a natural
 setting, and the results may provide a key link to global amphibian
 declines.

 In a paper titled "The Impact of Insecticides and Herbicides on the
 Biodiversity and Productivity of Aquatic Communities," published in the
 journal Ecological Applications, Relyea examined how a pond's entire
 community--25 species, including crustaceans, insects, snails, and
 tadpoles--responded to the addition of the manufacturers' recommended
 doses of two insecticides--Sevin® (carbaryl) and malathion--and two
 herbicides--Roundup® (glyphosate) and 2,4-D.

 Relyea found that Roundup® caused a 70 percent decline in amphibian
 biodiversity and an 86 percent decline in the total mass of tadpoles.
 Leopard frog tadpoles and gray tree frog tadpoles were completely
 eliminated and wood frog tadpoles
 and toad tadpoles were nearly eliminated. One species of frog, spring
 peepers, was unaffected.

 "The most shocking insight coming out of this was that Roundup®, something
 designed to kill plants, was extremely lethal to amphibians," said Relyea,
 who conducted the research at Pitt's Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. "We
 added
 Roundup®, and the next day we looked in the tanks and there were dead
 tadpoles all over the bottom."

 Relyea initially conducted the experiment to see whether the Roundup®
 would have an indirect effect on the frogs by killing their food source,
 the algae. However, he found that Roundup®, although an herbicide,
 actually increased the amount of algae in the pond because it killed most
 of the frogs.

 "It's like killing all the cows in a field and seeing that the field has
 more grass in it--not because you made the grass grow better, but
 because you killed everything that eats grass," he said.

 Previous research had found that the lethal ingredient in Roundup® was not
 the herbicide itself, glyphosate, but rather the surfactant, or detergent,
 that allows the herbicide to penetrate the waxy surfaces of plants. In
 Roundup®, that surfactant is a chemical called polyethoxylated
 tallowamine. Other herbicides have less dangerous surfactants: For
 example, Relyea's study found that 2,4-D had no effect on tadpoles.

 "We've repeated the experiment, so we're confident that this is, in fact,
 a repeatable result that we see," said Relyea. "It's fair to say that
 nobody would have guessed Roundup® was going to be so lethal to
 amphibians."

 Abstract:
 http://www.esajournals.org/esaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=1051-0761&volume=15&issue=2&page=618
 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-04/uopm-rhl040105.php