Introduction
This rebuttal of the research paper entitled “Presence and risk assessment of herbicides in the marine environment of Camps Bay (Cape Town, South Africa)” by Ojemaye, C., Onwordi, C., Pampanin, D., Sydnes, M. and Petrik, L. (2020) and published in the Science of the Total Environment journal is initiated to ensure that quantitative research, and the conclusions drawn, remain factual and accurate. Notwithstanding that this is the basis for conducting sound and reputable scientific research, the subject of the paper – which focuses on public health and ecological impact concerns – necessitates that the methods applied in the paper, and the subsequent findings, are subject to scrutiny and interrogation.
A thorough analysis of the paper has revealed several flaws and inaccuracies, as well as key statements that are stated as fact but which are not backed by any evidence of findings. It is based on these flaws and inaccuracies that we challenge some of the assertions made, and the subsequent conclusions drawn in the paper. We believe that by not addressing this through the formal channels of the Science of the Total Environment journal, unsubstantiated and incorrect statements contained in the paper will become “fact”. This will weaken and jeopardise the validity of future research papers and popular media articles that may reference and or quote this particular paper and the assertions made in it. Ultimately the errors contained in the paper, if not corrected, will be compounded over time.
