I've worked in the ag chemical business, and I would always say to keep an open mind about the potential health impacts of any manufactured chemical. So it should be with glyphosate. I've been very interested in reading as much scientific literate about it as I've, casually, been able to find. It takes a special kind of idiot to enjoy and understand it. Handled properly I doubt the claims that are being made against glyphosate...but we've been using it a long time. The build-up may be worth watching although I've never ready about the possibility of such a thing. I''m going to keep using it.
So, one of the alternatives is desiccants. Unlike glyphosate which is absorbed into the plant and flows around the plant's circulatory system slowly plugging it up, desiccants work on contact by dissolving a plants cell walls. The moisture dries up and the top of the plant dies. The roots still there. Summer annuals at the end of their life cycle will not regenerate, but if you hit them early in the spring, at the beginning of growth, they likely will re-sprout. Diquat and Gramoxone are two names that come to mind - and they require more care in their use than glyphosate. I think you probably have to have a restricted use permit to buy Gramoxone, or you did when I was a pup. Monsanto put diquat in the lawn and garden variety of RoundUp to make the plants brown much earlier than the glyphosate would kill because homeowners wanted to spray today and see brown tomorrow.
I dunno. If glyphosate frightens then, maybe all ag chemicals should do the same? I'm not trying to stir the pot, but, again, we should be cautious regardless of what label is on the jug.
