Roundup's long reign as the undisputed king of weed killers could be coming to an end in Tauranga as the city council considers trialing replacements.

The decision surrounds Roundup's controversial main ingredient glyphosate, which is alleged to be the cause of various chronic diseases and is currently banned in a number of countries.

Photo: File.

In a meeting this afternoon, the council's Strategy and Policy committee considered a trial of pine oil and fatty acid, containing agrichemicals, as an alternative to glyphosate on selected walkways and neighbourhood reserves.

The committee is also being asked to revive the use of steam as an alternative – a practice that was previously trialled in Tauranga city in 2001.

Glyphosate is the most commonly used agrichemical across council land, and according to staff reports it is known to cause cancer in animals. There is also alleged evidence to suggest it causes cancer in humans.

Researchers have also implied its involvement in birth defects, reduced fertility in men and breast cancer as well as a range of other chronic diseases. It is also considered to be more environmentally toxic than previously claimed.

New Zealand's Environment Protection Agency may reassess the use of glyphosate at a national level, says the report, which would force the council to change vegetation management in the near future.

The dilemma facing the council, however, is that glyphosate is the cheapest and most broadly effective agrichemical on the market. It kills most plants entirely, while less toxic alternatives, are far less effective.

An estimated cost of all council glyphosate use in 2014 is around $200,000, which includes product and labour of knapsack spraying at average dilution rates.

Removing it from their spray schedule would also increase the cost of vegetation management in parks, sports fields, stormwater reserves, and road berms, which staff say cannot be done immediately within current budgets.

Glyphosate has been legislatively banned in El Salvador, banned from importation into Sri Lanka and Bermuda, banned for non-commercial use in the Netheriands, and is under consideration in Brazil.

The French Minister for Ecology has ordered glyphosate products removed from retailers' shelves in France by January 2016, while actions have been taken by governments and large corporations in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Mexico, Russia, and Colombia.

Both the European Union and the US Environmental Protection Agency are conducting a review of glyphosate.