"Weed-killing plant-based foam shown to be as effective as herbicides"

We should probably* do as much as we can to reduce the use of endocrine-disruptor chemicals and that include herbicides.

From New Atlas, October 13:

It's no secret that herbicides can be harmful to the environment, plus they're costly, and weeds may develop a resistance to them. New research now suggests that farmers could get the same weed-killing results from a hot biodegradable foam.

In the past, scientists have tried killing weeds by scalding them with steam and/or hot water. This approach has only met with limited success, however, due to the fact that the heat simply escaped into the atmosphere before much of it was transferred into the weeds. What was needed was a substance that retained heat for a longer period of time.

That's where the Foamstream system comes in.

Developed by British agricultural company Weedingtech, it incorporates a liquid foam made of plant oils and sugars, which is mixed with hot water and sprayed via a hand wand directly onto weeds. The foam then forms a layer of insulation, keeping the heat on the weeds long enough for it to penetrate their leaves' outer surface, then travel down their stems and into their roots – effectively killing them. Once its job is done, the foam dries up and biodegrades into the soil....

....MUCH MORE

*I say probably because at the population level there are benefits from using the chemicals: increased food production being the main one. A statistician smarter than I could probably come up with the tradeoffs in an hours time and pinpoint where the breast cancer line cross with the malnutrition-induced diseases line.

At the individual level, avoid any and all synthetic chemicals that the species hasn't been dealing with for, say, five thousand years. Although even there, overindulgence in beer or too many yummy char-broiled fat molecules from your Wagyu can wreck the best laid plans. But if possible, leaving only the dozens of naturally occurring carcinogens the opportunity to have their way with you is the best course.