> But when glyphosate encounters certain trace metal ions that make water hard—like magnesium and calcium—glyphosate-metal ion complexes can form. Those complexes can persist up to seven years in water and 22 years in soil.
Isn't basically all water outside hard water? How did public health agencies miss this?
It's even worse than that. Those are the half-lives. From the paper:
"These glyphosate-metal complexes
increase the half-life of the herbicide dramatically, from 90
days to 7 years in water and 47 days to 22 years in soil."
On the plus side, things should get better soon: "In 2012, Sri Lanka imported >5 million kg of glyphosate until a ban was imposed since 2014."
No, many surface water sources are soft. eg, Seattle and Portland municipal water supplies are both drawn from rivers in local watersheds, and have no appreciable mineral content.
Isn't basically all water outside hard water? How did public health agencies miss this?