Low concentration of glyphosate in Norwegian water environment

Potential negative environmental consequences from widespread use of glyphosate have been a talking point in recent years. The EU is now assessing whether to phase out the weed killer.

A new report from NIBIO highlights connections between environmental concentrations of glyphosate in drainage areas and factors that affect the concentrations, such as weather conditions and operational and spraying practices. The study is focused on two drainage areas in the national monitoring programme JOVA in the periods 1997–2000/2001 and 2016–2018, where corn production dominates and glyphosate is used annually to control weeds.

“Through JOVA we now have over 25 years of data from the field. This means that we have the data to be able to say something about the levels over long periods,” explains Marianne Stenrød, Director of Division of  Biotechnology and Plant Health at NIBIO.

“We found low concentrations which weren’t assumed to have any negative environmental effects,” says Stenrød.

She explains that the transport of glyphosate, and where it ends up in the environment, have also been investigated in several research projects in recent years.

The main findings were that glyphosate persists longer in the Norwegian environment than previously assumed, and that the substance has been detected in the majority of water samples that have been analysed in agricultural areas where the agent is used regularly over larger areas. But these also showed that the concentrations are mainly low.

“The current practice therefore does not pose a hazard to the water environment,” concludes Stenrød.