Effects of high dietary concentrations of glyphosate (roundup®) on a species of bird, marsupial and rodent indigenous to Australia

Abstract

AbstractFive zebra finches, Poephila guttata (Gould), allowed unrestricted access to seed containing 5,000 μg glyphosate/g all died in 3 to 7 d, but they may well have died from starvation since their food consumption was drastically reduced. Six finches survived after ingesting seed containing 2,500 μg glyphosate/g for 5 d. The marsupial Sminthopsis macroura (Gould), and two species of hopping‐mouse, Notomys alexis Thomas and Notomys mitchelli (Ogilby) (N = 5 controls and 5 treated, for each species) survived on a diet in which the concentration of glyphosate was increased from 625 μg/g to 5,000 μg/g by doubling the concentration of glyphosate in the food every few days during a 23‐d period. The only toxic effect observed in the mammals was a marked body weight loss in the treated N. alexis. The data indicate that glyphosate for these four species is in the probably not toxic to slightly toxic category for rating the relative acute toxicity of chemicals.