Glyphosate was the active ingredient in Roundup and other branded products.
She said terbuthylazine appeared over and over again in New Zealand groundwater, above European drinking water standards.
''Is it in Bay of Plenty groundwater? We don't know.''
Bruning said this was despite the triazine family being endocrine disruptors and reproductive toxicants, even at very delicate levels. The council's job first and foremost was to preserve and protect our water.
She said it was in the public interest to understand the Bay's freshwater and groundwater chemical signature.
''The monitoring standards for chemicals were not good enough to protect rural mothers and their babies, the fly fishing industry and baby koura and inanga.''
Bruning said Rotorua's lakes received pulses of glyphosate and terbuthylazine before and after pine seedlings were planted.
''Each year different areas are logged then replanted - the chemical pulses into our water systems are endless.''
Donald said the council had a region-wide monitoring programme that used a broad range of environmental indicators to regularly monitor and assess freshwater quality and ecological health.
At some locations, this included monitoring for the presence of heavy metals and other contaminants related to agri-chemical use in water, sediment and soil.
''But specific testing for glyphosate residues has not been a part of our monitoring programme to date.''
Donald said the council was continually reviewing the environmental monitoring programme.
''Our science team is investigating the risks, options and costs associated with Ms Bruning's request and will make a recommendation to councillors in due course.''
Bruning said the Bay of Plenty was one of only two regions that did not take part in the 2014 national survey of pesticides in groundwater. When the Bay did take part in 2010, six wells were sampled compared with 40 in the Waikato.
The council could not build a profile of water health on six samples, she said.
Donald said the 2010 national survey monitored for 88 pesticides including terbuthylazine but not glyphosate. No pesticides were detected in the Bay of Plenty bores at that time.
''We are assessing the costs and benefits of participating in the 2018 survey. Our understanding is that glyphosate can be included in the 2018 national survey.''
Bruning said the council, challenged by legislation to manage invasive aquatic species, applied a herbicide to lakes that was 36 per cent glyphosate.
''What we don't know is the effect of the 36 per cent mix on native eco-systems.''
The daughter-in-law of regional councillor Norm Bruning said the
endocrine disrupting and hormonal nature of many chemicals damaged people, particularly children, at much more delicate levels than previously suspected.
It wasn't just horticulture and forestry but the spraying of rural roadsides in the Western Bay, she said.
Regional council decisions sought by Jodie Bruning:
- Participate in the 2018 national survey of pesticides in groundwater, incorporating screening for glyphosates and the sulfonylurea group of pesticides
- Incorporate pesticides in screening Rotorua lakes' freshwater and sediment including organosilicon penetrants
- Routine testing of degraded hotspots such as Kaiate Falls and Ngongotaha Stream
- Screen for emerging organic contaminants
- Support the Freshwater Rescue Plan
