The idea that surfactant use in herbicides is new is false. This is from 1950:

> In spray applications 2,4-D is now without doubt the most widely used herbicide. 2,4-D sprays have been particularly effective in controlling dicotyledonous weeds in cereal crops. Several million acres of crops are now sprayed annually by ground rig or airplane.

> The alkanolamine salts of 2,4-D are reasonably soluble in water. The triethanolamine salt has been used in many formulations, usually with the addition of a wetting agent [surfactant]

> Diffusion through the cuticle is probably the usual means of entry. The amount which enters is a function of the time and area of contact; both factors are related to the degree of wetting of the surface.

Annu. Rev. Plant. Physiol. 1950.1:141-168

* * *

Users have been adding surfactants to Round-up since its introduction in the early 1970s

> Anyone who has spent a summer in the San Joaquin Valley hoeing johnson grass, bermudagrass, or nutsedge (nutgrass) out of a young orchard or has labored on a hot summer afternoon trying to pull perennial bindweed out of a young vineyard or a cotton field will be much interested in Roundup (glyphosate). This new herbicide showed promise in earlier studies and has since proved to be an outstanding product against most annual and perennial weeds.

> the addition of X-77 [surfactant] to low rates of glyphosate improved the kill of bermuda grass

"Roundup - The End of Perennial Weeds in Tree and Vine Crops?" (California Agriculture, September 1975)

PLB

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