As we make the transition between summer and fall lawn care in the region, new questions are being raised about the safety of certain chemicals used to control weeds and other garden inhibitors. Earlier this summer, officials in the State of California raised concerns regarding the carcinogenic capabilities of the widely used herbicide glyphosate. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says the effectiveness and safety of glyphosate and other chemicals should be grounded in science.

“You’ve got to base it on sound science. That’s one of the roles that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has is to make sure these products we use are safe for the environment as well as humans. Those that handle them, that’s done in a very strict way…We cannot discount the advantages we’ve had in having the lowest cost and the most healthy, nutritious, safe food supply of any developed country in the world.”

Perdue says he’s disappointed in some of the decisions made in civil courts in regards to the herbicide as he believes they are based more on emotion than sound science. Glyphosate is found in a variety of weed killers, including Monsanto’s Roundup.