Alternatives for Roundup to be examined in Kerry

Kerry County Council is apparently investigating the controversial weedkiller Roundup and its uses, and will examine possible alternatives for the pesticide, according to local reports.

At a recent meeting of the council, a decision was made to have a committee look into the use of the product, according to local radio station Radio Kerry.

The Quality of Life Strategic Policy Committee will apparently research how other European cities have moved away from the use of Roundup, the radio station reports.

This will include looking at “practical alternatives to controlling weed growth”.

A report is to be prepared for Kerry County Council on the matter, Radio Kerry adds.

This examination was prompted by the recent court decision in the US.

Earlier this month, a Californian judge ordered the pharma giant Bayer’s subsidiary Monsanto to pay $289 million (€253 million) in damages to a man who alleged that ingredients in a weedkiller had caused his cancer.

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto earlier this year for $55 billion, has insisted that the product glyphosate is safe and has announced plans to appeal to the court decision.

Despite ongoing and debatable claims that exposure to glyphosate – the most widely-used weedkiller in the world – poses a potential risk to human health, the herbicide was given a new five-year licence by the European Union last November.