Roundup Highly Lethal To Amphibians in Natural Setting

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The news release was originally issued by the University of Pittsburgh - Main Campus and is distributed by AScribe, The Public Interest Newswire.

"The most shocking insight coming out of this was that Roundup, something designed to kill plants, was extremely lethal to amphibians," said Relyea, who conducted the research at Pitt's Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. "We added Roundup, and the next day we looked in the tanks and there were dead tadpoles all over the bottom."

"Previous research had found that the lethal ingredient in Roundup was not the herbicide itself, glyphosate, but rather the surfactant, or detergent, that allows the herbicide to penetrate the waxy surfaces of plants. In Roundup, that surfactant is a chemical called polyethoxylated tallowamine. Other herbicides have less dangerous surfactants: For example, Relyea's study found that 2,4-D had no effect on tadpoles."

I expect not the surfactant itself rather the surfactant interacting with the herbicide is the cause - making it bioavailable