15 Health Problems Linked to Monsanto’s Roundup

[JohnyCanuck]

By Alexis Baden-Mayer, Organic Consumers Association

Monsanto invented the herbicide glyphosate and brought it to market under the trade name Roundup in 1974, after DDT was banned. But it wasn’t until the late 1990s that the use of Roundup surged, thanks to Monsanto’s ingenious marketing strategy. The strategy? Genetically engineer seeds to grow food crops that could tolerate high doses of Roundup. With the introduction of these new GE seeds, farmers could now easily control weeds on their corn, soy, cotton, canola, sugar beets and alfalfa crops—crops that thrived while the weeds around them were wiped out by Roundup.

Eager to sell more of its flagship herbicide, Monsanto also encouraged farmers to use Roundup as a dessicant, to dry out all of their crops so they could harvest them faster. So Roundup is now routinely sprayed directly on a host of non-GMO crops, including wheat, barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, lentils, soybeans, dry beans and sugar cane.

Between 1996 – 2011, the widespread use of Roundup Ready GMO crops increased herbicide use in the U.S. by 527 million pounds—even though Monsanto claimed its GMO crops would reduce pesticide and herbicide use.

Monsanto has falsified data on Roundup’s safety, and marketed it to parks departments and consumers as “environmentally friendly” and “biodegradable, to encourage its use it on roadsides, playgrounds, golf courses, schoolyards, lawns and home gardens. A French court ruled those marketing claims amounted to false advertising.

Continue here to see the list of health problems associated with glyphosate/Roundup:
http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/23/health-problems-linked-to-monsanto-roundup/

[underpants]

1. I was working on the grounds crew of a PGA golf course in 1986-7

and they showed us this stuff called Roundup. No grass around the trees in a perfect circle so no weed eating and quicker mowing.

I remember looking up at the guy I worked with and said "How about that?" He responded, "that's not right"

Seriously. Verbatim.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

2. Many Many Thanks

good post

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Portuguese Medical Association President Calls for Global Ban on Glyphosate

Editorial by José Manuel Silva, President, Portuguese Medical Association. Published first in Portuguese in the July/August 2015 issue of the Portuguese Medical Association Magazine:

SNIP

Although, according to the IARC, the evidence in humans is not clearly incriminating (as has happened, in an initial phase, with so many toxins), it is extremely worrying. It is not easy to show this connection because there is a hiatus – sometimes dozens of years long – between carcinogen exposure and appearance of the “corresponding” cancer.

As if all this wasn’t enough, two additional issues suggest the IARC is erring on the conservative side. The first is that evaluations have focused on the active ingredient – glyphosate itself – even though the commercial formulation contains other chemical compounds. Consistent research shows that a significant share of the pesticides’ total toxicity may be attributed to these adjuvants (BioMed Research International. Vol 2014, Article ID 179691). Despite its benign reputation, Roundup is among the most toxic herbicides used in the European Union.

Furthermore, human beings are exposed simultaneously to chemical compounds of multiple origins which may interact synergistically. Some examples are well-known in toxicology: carbon tetrachloride and ethanol, together, have a far more devastating effect on the liver than the sum of their individual impacts. But even if the effects resulted from a summation only, with no synergies, none of that is taken into account when evaluating risks, approving the compounds and establishing classifications or limits. It is also noteworthy that those living in the western world carry in their bodies hundreds of synthetic contaminants that didn’t even exist 200 years ago.

Taken together, this data suggests that a careful reflection on glyphosate’s future, and globally on the management of food chemical risks, is in order. The worldwide acknowledged precautionary principle says that, in the face of clear evidence of harm, action to protect human health and the environment should not wait for final scientific evidence. For glyphosate the conclusion is clear: this herbicide should be banned worldwide.

http://sustainablepulse.com/2016/02/09/portuguese-medical-association-president-calls-for-global-ban-on-glyphosate/

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Devastating Impacts of Glyphosate Use with GMO Seeds in Argentina

Widespread GM soybean cultivation and accompanying pesticide spraying is wreaking havoc on the health of millions Dr Medardo Ávila-Vázquez

Dr Medardo Ávila-Vázquez, a paediatrician and neonatologist at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, National University of Córdoba, Argentina is the coordinator of the Physicians of Crop-Sprayed Towns, a University Network for Environment and Health that campaigns against agrochemical spraying and provides medical treatment to villages suffering from illnesses as a result of agrochemical exposure. Since noticing the health of his patients deteriorate and patterns of illness change, he has campaigned tirelessly for the protection of local people, particularly children who are some of the worst affected.



After 18 years of systematic sprayings, health teams in fumigated towns detect a change in the pattern of diseases in their populations: respiratory problems are much more common and are linked to the application of agricultural poisons, as is chronic dermatitis. Similarly, during fumigation, epileptic patients convulse much more frequently, and depression, immune and endocrine disorders are more frequent.

High rates of miscarriages are recorded (up to 23 % of women of reproductive age had at least one abortion in the past 5 years) and consultations for infertility in men and women have significantly increased. Herds of goats belonging to farmers and indigenous people in some areas record up to 100 % of abortions or premature deaths due to malformations linked to pesticide exposure. Increased thyroid disorders and diabetes are also detected in local people.

More and more children are born with defects in these areas, especially if the first months of pregnancy coincide with the time of spraying. Down’s syndrome, spina bifida, myelomeningocele (neural tube defect), congenital heart disease, etc. are diagnosed more frequently in those areas; in some towns and during some years, at triple the normal rates, and directly linked to increased pesticide applications around the towns [3, 4] (see Figure 1). Neural tube defects are among the most common developmental birth defects observed, which is consistent with lab studies and farm observations see [5] A Roundup of Roundup® Reveals Converging Pattern of Toxicity from Farm to Clinic to Laboratory Studies, SiS 65].

Crop-sprayed towns also show a change in the causes of death. According to data from the civil records offices to which we had access, over 30 % of deaths are from cancer, while nationwide, the percentage is less than 20 %. Cancer death rates have clearly increased in those areas, and this is a new phenomenon detected by our colleagues since 2000 [3, 4, 6]. Significantly, the date coincides with the expansion in the use of glyphosate and other agrochemicals massively applied in those areas. In May 2014, the Ministry of Health of the Province of Córdoba published data from its cancer registry, confirming that in the most intensive agricultural areas, deaths due to cancer exceed by 100 % those in the city, and by 70 % the provincial average [7].

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Devastating_Impacts_of_Glyphosate_Argentina.php