WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

are also poisoning our drinking water and, in my opinion, causing
cancer and a reduction in human and animal fertility. That is why
the use of these products must be reduced as soon as possible and
preferably avoided altogether. It is only logical that chemical giants
such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow Chemical or Bayer will all protest
the safeness of their products. Dangerous weedkillers include, among
others: Bromacil (toxic to animals and humans), MCPA (alias “Weed
and Feed”; methylphenoxyacetic acid), Antrazine (kills weeds in
crops; carcinogenic), Hedonal (methylpropylcarbinal; weedkiller and
anaesthetic), Turdon, EFFIGO, Clopyralid (persists in compost and soil;
was banned in Seattle in 1999; Agent White), Diuron, Agent Orange
from the Vietnam war, Roundup Ready (with the active substance
glyphosate), Picloram (alias Turdon; Agent White), and Paraquat (kills
absolutely everything; no known antidote if accidentally swallowed).
In German, the expression used for the English word “insecticide” is
highly interesting because these substances are referred to as “plant
protection”, but the term “destruction” would be more accurate. The
generic term “pesticide” comes from the Latin, derived from “pestis”,
which means “plague” and “cadere”, which means “to kill”.
A friend of mine who fought against this kind of water contamination
for almost 20 years did not succeed in having the perpetrators convicted.
Instead, he was himself convicted on charges of slander after launching
a verbal attack on the president of the German Institute for Agriculture
and Forestry, who had spoken out in favour of the use of Diuron – the
highly toxic weedkiller which has been banned since 1996. The issue
of how to deal with the weeds on and around the railway lines in an
ecologically acceptable way has still to be resolved.
11.4 Railway Lines
For decades now, railway lines in Germany have been sprayed with
various highly toxic herbicides to prevent plants growing on the ballast.
Products such as Hedonal, Bromacil, Turdon, Diuron and others are
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