The City of San Francisco routinely sprays high hazard herbicides, including Roundup/glyphosate (classified as “probable carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer), in parks and on watersheds. These chemicals are more toxic, more dangerous, more persistent, and more mobile than their manufacturers disclose. Numerous scientific studies associate exposure to herbicides with cancer, developmental and learning disabilities, nerve and immune system damage, liver or kidney damage, reproductive impairment, birth defects, and disruption of the endocrine system. The “danger” from weeds which these herbicides are used to eliminate is aesthetic or ideological, rather than an actual danger to health and welfare.
There is no justification to use these poisons on public land. It clearly contradicts the Precautionary Principle of the SF Environment Code. Land is managed organically by various cities across the US. Despite repeated pleas from concerned residents, the city refuses to quit this dangerous herbicide addiction.
The people of San Francisco need this Toxic Herbicides Reduction Act to protect our health and our environment.