Well, this is quite a conundrum, isn't it? I guess we'll never know for sure, but it's an interesting puzzle. The following may or may not be deemed relevant to the discussion.<br><br>This correspondence by Michael Surgan is a good (and brief) discussion of the problems posed by the presence of "inert" ingredients in pesticide formulations:<br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281320/#b1-ehp0113-a0657c" target="_blank">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281320/#b1-ehp0113-a0657c</a></p>
<br>In his reference section, he cites but does not provide a link to the New York lawsuit filed against Monsanto, so I will provide it here:<br><a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/fraud.pdf" target="_blank">http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/fraud.pdf</a><br>
<br>Note that a similar lawsuit against Monsanto's false claim of Roundup being nontoxic and biodegradable was also successfully pursued in France.<br><br>The article Surgan references by Richard et al. that explores the toxicity of some of the adjuvants in Roundup formulations is a worthwhile read; the abstract doesn't take too much time:<br>
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257596/" target="_blank">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257596/</a><br><br>Surgan's link to the EPA Reregistration Eligibility Document on Glyphosate doesn't work. Here's an EPA fact sheet for that document:<a href="http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/0178fact.pdf" target="_blank"> http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/0178fact.pdf</a>
<br>... with the relevant excerpt being (and bold emphasis is mine):<br><b><span style="background-color:rgb(153,0,0)"><span></span></span><br>
</b><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><i>Due
to the presence of a <b>toxic inert ingredient</b>, some glyphosate end-use products
must be labeled, "Toxic to fish," if they may be applied directly to
aquatic environments.</i></p><i>
</i><p></p><span style="background-color:rgb(51,51,255)"><i><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span><br></span></span></i><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span>The fact that the EPA feels comfortable using terms such as "toxic inert ingredient" is enough to keep my head in a spin.<br>
<br>best regards,<br><br>Gena Fleming</span></span><i><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span></span></span></i></span><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 10:18 AM, Wayne Tyson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:landrest@cox.net" target="_blank">landrest@cox.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div vlink="blue" link="blue" bgcolor="white" lang="EN-US">
<div><font face="Arial">A <i>possibility,</i> sure, but not a
<i>probability. </i>Certainly the "soils" were disturbed; they were cut
slopes, creating ideal conditions for colonization by weedy plants. Yes,
the "invasives" could have altered soil properties (one of the ways is
soil-building), and in fact, it could have been the dead invasives that harbored
the residues that killed the emerging native seedlings. </font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">Conjecture can be useful, but useless in the
absence of a stated theoretical foundation or actual evidence. What is needed is
good science that can confirm or reject the conjectures. </font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">WT</font></div>
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="PADDING-RIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px"><div><div>
<div>----<br></div></div></div></blockquote></div>
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