skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Maps Reveal Glyphosate Use in Parks

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 24, 2016   

NEW YORK - An interactive, online map could tell you if you're living near a public park where an herbicide that may cause cancer is being used.

The map is the work of Reverend Billy and The Stop Shopping Choir, a group that calls itself an "anti-consumerist, direct action" organization.

It's mapping the use of Monsanto's Roundup, the trademarked name for an herbicide with glyphosate as a key ingredient in cities across the country.

Savitri D, director of the group, says glyphosate, which has been linked to a number of serious health problems, is commonly used in New York's public parks.

"The City of New York used it at least 3,000 times in 2014 and we're still waiting for more data from the largest parks in the city," she says. "Prospect Park, Central Park and the privatized parks have not released their data to us yet."

Monsanto says glyphosate is safe for human use and has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as "practically non-toxic."

But according to Savitri D, studies have linked glyphosate to cancer, birth defects, allergies, asthma and other health problems.

"It is a known toxin and so, the City of New York has to report it to the Department of Health, which already tells you something about its danger," she says. "It's not just like a benign substance that we spray."

The group has also prepared interactive maps of glyphosate use in parks in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Philadelphia, as well as in schoolyards and ball fields in California.

She notes that most people aren't even aware that such herbicides are being sprayed in their public parks.

"When we spray chemicals on the root system of a tree, we don't see that," she says. "So, it's part of our mission to make those things visible, make that problem and that tension visible to people."

She says the collection of maps will continue to expand as The Stop Shopping Choir collects data from more cities and national parks around the country.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021