Exposure to weed killing products increases risk of cancer by 41% - study

[turbinetree]

Source: The Guardian

Evidence ‘supports link’ between exposures to glyphosate herbicides and increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma

A broad new scientific analysis of the cancer-causing potential of glyphosate herbicides, the most widely used weed killing products in the world, has found that people with high exposures to the popular pesticides have a 41% increased risk of developing a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The evidence “supports a compelling link” between exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides and increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), the authors concluded, though they said the specific numerical risk estimates should be interpreted with caution.

The findings by five US scientists contradict the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) assurances of safety over the weed killer and come as regulators in several countries consider limiting the use of glyphosate-based products in farming.

Monsanto and its German owner Bayer AG face more than 9,000 lawsuits in the US brought by people suffering from NHL who blame Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides for their diseases. The first plaintiff to go to trial won a unanimous jury verdict against Monsanto in August, a verdict the company is appealing. The next trial, involving a separate plaintiff, is set to begin on 25 February , and several more trials are set for this year and into 2020.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/14/weed-killing-products-increase-cancer-risk-of-cancer

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And we are now witnessing the collapse of insect populations............because after all this stuff goes after dandelions and other flowers , that bees love in the spring and summer...........................

[DirtEdonE]

1. Homeowners and landscapers spread that stuff around here

By the ton. Every spring and throughout the growing season into fall.

We don't use ANY chemicals. All natural lawn and garden. We have birds and wildlife (more than we sometimes care to have) all year long. They feed off of the plants even during winter.

Our lawn is a mix of various plants, violets, clover, grass, you name it. It's just as green as my neighbors' lawns after I cut it and it doesn't die in a drought like theirs. Because it's a potpourri of native ground covers.

I have to thank the wife for all of that. She's a master gardener who showed me the light years ago.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. +1

[appal_jack]

13. Excellent, DirtEdonE!

You are definitely on the right track when following your wife's natural gardening guidance rather than Bayer's/Monsanto's toxic course...

& k&r,

-app

[DirtEdonE]

19. Thanks, every year my dog gets an upset stomach

From people spreading that crap on sidewalks instead of on their lawns. I try to keep her out of it but it's impossible sometimes. I clean her paws when we get home and it helps a lot.

I can't understand people who are willing to poison the whole world, including their children and pets, for a green lawn of boring grass blades.

Our lawn is beautiful when it's in bloom. Yellow, blue, red (wild strawberries creeping through the greenery) - it's like a lawn rainbow.

[appal_jack]

20. I hope that your neighbors learn from you soon.

Biodiversity is the way!

Sorry to hear that your pupper is exposed by your neighbors' ignorance and misguided landscaping strategies. Hopefully, they get a clue soon,

-app

[DirtEdonE]

24. I tell every one of them that will listen

They just hire a landscaper usually and their landscape training is nothing more than toxic application directions. We need tough laws to stop the use of these deadly chemicals but I doubt Monsanto or any of the others will ever be stopped.

Money is more important than having a planet to live on to some people.

[EarthFirst]

39. Yup.

I get neighborhood notifications from various companies throughout the year prior to adjacency homes being treated; and of course a pamphlet outlining the benefits of having a lawn service treat my property.

Not necessary.

If the dandelions are a bother to anyone; tough shit!

We live on a one acre lot in a village setting that backs up to ever wild property that family owns. I only maintain half of it two or three times a year; and I’ve spent countless hours tilling and playing native plant species and beneficial wildflowers and shrubs for the insects & critters.

It’s been met with resistance by the village twice.

Oh well.

[Pobeka]

2. Monsanto is evil.

That's all I have to say about that.

Oh, and, I'm betting that what glyphosate has done to our gut-bacteria explains a whole lot about rises of food allergies, since gut flora help break down food in a symbiotic relationship.

We ought to be eating dandelions, not spraying them.

[watoos]

3. I love dandelions in my yard.

We used to get so many that my dad would make wine out of them. Wicked stuff. An old timer told me not drink wine made from the flowers, it makes you crazy. Too late, I also made elderblow wine from elderberry blossoms.

Roundup is bad stuff. Daughter's family and wife and I have been eating organic or home grown for the past 10 years. The food even tastes better, but it will spoil if you don't eat it fast enough. When I see eyes starting to grow from my potatoes I smile because I know that they aren't GMO's. GMO potatoes won't grow eyes.

[Nitram]

31. That sounds false, watoos. Where did you read that GMO potatoes won't grow eyes?

[DirtEdonE]

4. I keep my lawn dandelion free

With a little tool I carry when I mow the lawn. I put a bag on the mower handle, pop the dandelions out with the tool and throw them in the bag. No chemicals. No dandelions. It just takes a little manual labor and a little tool I bought at the garden center.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. What does the tool look like?

I try to lop off the tops before they flower to avoid seeds. Leave the leaves for the rabbits.

[DirtEdonE]

21. The tool is a long piece of metal with a wood handle

That splits like a snake tongue at the end. You put it in next to the dandelion and just "pop" it out with the whole root intact once you get the hang of it. You just have to start early at the first sign of dandelions the keep after them once a week or so whenever you cut the grass. I find that besides being far more environmentally friendly, it's actually easier than spreading all that poison after you get them under control.

My neighbor's lawns are crawling with dandelions even though they use poison while my lawn is pretty near clear of any dandelions. It works for crab grass too!

It's similar to this one:

[Baitball Blogger]

23. I have one of those!

Just need to make sure the garage monster hasn't eaten it.


Thank you!

[DirtEdonE]

25. You're welcome!

Along with my garage monster, I have a garden shed. They compete with each other in hiding my tools.

[DemoTex]

7. Rachel warned us in 1962. Rachel Carson.

It was mostly about DDT back then, but Agent Orange (2,4,5-T and 2,4-D) was soon to be used in Vietnam. While today's glyphosphates and Agent Orange are chemically different, they are both the spawn of Monsanto. And I would never trust Monsanto with my life.

[appalachiablue]

17. +1 Rachel Carson, scientist and prophet

[DirtEdonE]

22. +1 x 100

Silent Spring should be required reading for everyone on earth. What they did to our planet in the name of insect eradication is just criminal.

It appears they were far more successful in eradicating US.

[Achilleaze]

8. This chemical crap (toxic nectar for GMO shit) is in tampons, Cheerios

orange juice, corn flakes, and all kinds of other stuff. The GMO-chemical Complex, Inc. (R) is rotting the minds and bodies of consumers.

[appalachiablue]

18. Even German beer from glyphosated GRAINS, wheat, oats & corn..

New Study Shows Pesticide Levels in Families Dropped 60% After One Week *Organic Diet, Common Dreams, Feb. 12, 2019.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/12/study-shows-toxic-pesticide-levels-families-dropped-60-after-one-week-organic-diet

[Duppers]

36. Thank you.

Sent your post out, trying to convince skeptics.

[frazzled]

9. Just to be clear

An increase of 41% needs some perspective.

The incidence of getting non-Hodgkins lymphoma (for a man; for women it is less likely) is 1 in 42, or a little over 2%. An increase of 41% in that rate would make it about 3%. That's still a significant rise, but it's still a pretty small chance for a given individual.

I'm someone whose spouse got an NHL four years ago (advanced diffuse small B-cell lymphoma, which is similar to leukemia--there are many, many types of NHL), even though we live in the middle of a concrete jungle and it was the middle of winter (and over the years, when we did live in houses with yards, never used any chemicals). So I'm guessing the genesis was something else altogether. It was intense, and a full year of hospitalizations and treatments. But I will say, if you have to get a cancer, this is one of the ones to get: with today's advances, it is one of the most successfully treatable: "The overall 5-year relative survival rate for people with NHL is 71%." (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/detection-diagnosis-staging/factors-prognosis.html). And from what I was given to understand, if you make it to five years, the incidence of recurrence is extremely low.

I have never trusted chemical lawn care, and never used it. I didn't much like it when neighbors used it, and always kept my kids inside for several days if I was aware that it was in the immediate vicinity, especially if it was windy. I'm that cautious. And yet, plenty of people never get an NHL. When people get a cancer, we often look for a blame, whether in our food or environment. Sometimes there is one, especially for people who have been exposed closely and consistently. But sometimes it's just your body going amiss, whereas as others who eat bologna or spray their lawns do just fine. Just thinking out loud about this.

[Beowulf42]

10. And By Extension

our environment is filled with the toxic elements from all of the petroleum based products which need to be tested to see how they affect the prevalence of autism and cancers throughout our society. There have been constant rumors of clusters of cancer, and yet we have no definitive studies that tackle the implications of the presence of those chemicals in our environment. We need knowledgeable research and actions based on that information in quick time.

[Honeycombe8]

11. As I've been saying for years...it's like "duh."

Round-up is one of the offenders. People assume that since Home Depot sells it, it must be safe.

[llmart]

12. People are obsessed with their yards.

I've worked in garden centers and dealing with the public and trying to get them to try something different than what is considered the norm in our country is next to impossible. And sorry guys, the men in this country are the worst when it comes to their lawns. It's like some sort of blood sport to try to outdo your neighbor on how green and "perfect" your lawn is. The women don't get off the hook so easily either. They come into the garden center and are looking for every chemical in the book to get rid of that one pesky insect that they are afraid of, be it ants or bees or spiders. They also want plants that are more artificial than real. So the growers have to make sure their flowers are perfect.

Same goes for the food they eat. If there's one little blemish they're not buying it.

I read Rachel Carson years ago and she was way ahead of her time. Her biography on PBS is really good.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. It's the use on food crops that's the most problematic though

Because of the residues left behind on those crops.

Another problem with weed killers like Roundup and Dicamba is that even if a farmer doesn't use them, they may be forced to buy Roundup ready or Dicamba ready seeds or their crops will be damaged by drift from a neighboring farm. Who sells the resistant (GMO) seeds? Monsanto, of course! So these use of Roundup and Dicamba creates a monopoly on the seeds that have to be used.

[Glimmer of Hope]

15. My father was one of those obsessed with his yard! Perfecting his yard was his hobby.

He died of a rare form of MS and our dog died of pancreatic cancer which is rare for dogs. I have ovarian cancer without any genetic mutations so I can't help but wonder if my cancer is due in part to the damn weed killer exposure while growing up.

[DirtEdonE]

26. I used to be like that

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss of your dad and your dog.

I'm a cancer survivor. Three of my dogs over the years passed away from it too.

I am very careful about what I eat and drink now. AND NO CHEMICALS on my property!

I also got one of these for all the water we consume and it works REALLY great! This system will remove over 99 percent of the crap that's leeched into our water system!

https://www.berkeyfilters.com/

Edit to add: THIS is a prime reason I use a Berkey for ALL the water we drink, cook with or consume in any fashion. New Jersey is a hotbed of chemical plumes infesting our water supply. We're the most densely populated state in America.

A dangerous chemical has tainted N.J. water for decades and the feds are still dragging their feet
https://www.nj.com/news/2019/02/a-dangerous-chemical-has-tainted-nj-water-for-decades-and-the-feds-are-still-dragging-their-feet.html

[Glimmer of Hope]

30. Ooh - I want a Berkey!

I moved from DC to California where the air is fresh and water is cleaner but I am always looking for ways to eliminate possible dangers.

I am so sorry about your three dogs and hope you continue do well!

[DirtEdonE]

33. Thanks and get that Berkey!

On city water they're fantastic. Best water I've tasted since I was in the northwestern wilderness back in the 60s!

Their filters can even handle RAW water sources in an emergency.

[dem in texas]

16. the pesticides to kill ants are responsible for the wiping out the horned toads in Texas

Same goes for "light'n bugs" better known as fireflies. During the day, they sleep in the hedges and shrubs. Spraying pesticides on these plants is what did away with them. I only use simple compounds like hot water on the ants, grape juice for slugs, blood meal for the rabbits, etc. All do not harm and even help the soil. I have seen a horned toad in my garden twice. The light'n bugs are back in my yard, although not as thick as they were when I was a kid.

I never thought about the harm to my body using commercial pesticides, just doing my part to help our planet.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. It's a never-ending battle with people who want their yards to look like

tiny golf courses. And I mean tiny; here in the city most of the yards are only about 40' wide - but some people nevertheless insist on trying to make them look like the lawns of the great estates of England (which is where all this lawn mania started in the first place - people wanted to cultivate their property so they'd look wealthy). So they're out there with their fertilizer and pesticides, and what they don't realize is that the chemicals are not only killing insects (and by extension, the creatures that eat them and the plants that depend on them for pollination), but they are killing the soil itself. Most plants can't absorb nutrients from the soil very efficiently without the fungi (micorrhiza) and microbes that attach themselves to the plants' roots and break down these nutrients. But the chemicals kill these organisms so the plants can't "eat" and they become weak and susceptible to insects and diseases. So the homeowners dump even more fertilizers and herbicides and insecticides, so their soil becomes even more sterile.

The impulse is always to buy some chemical to kill something. I'm a Master Gardener, and one of the things we do is volunteer at fairs, garden centers, farmers' markets, etc. and answer gardening questions. Last summer the big issue was what to do about Japanese beetles. The answer is basically nothing, except pick them off into a bucket of soapy water; but people wanted to kill them, right now, with some kind of bug spray. We had to explain over and over about how that just kills bees and butterflies and won't do a damn thing about the beetles, which reproduce as grubs in lawns. People are really dumb about nature and it makes me sad.

[llmart]

28. I'm a Master Gardener too...

and I think people are willfully ignorant about nature. It makes me sad too. What makes me even sadder is that these sorts of people, if they are parents, pass that along to their kids. One the most eye opening books I read was "Last Child in the Woods" about how children are not allowed to explore outside and have no connection to nature.

[Jedi Guy]

34. Very true about kids not being allowed outside.

When I was a kid in southern Mississippi (80s to 90s, for the record), my buddies and I were all over the place. We'd go run around in the woods, we'd go swimming in the lakes, rivers, and bayous, we'd go to the beach, we'd go out to the barrier islands with our parents when little and on our own when teenagers. My dad's rule was that you come home from school, do your chores and homework, and then outside to play until dark, weather permitting.

That doesn't seem to be the case so much anymore, does it?

[llmart]

35. No, it doesn't and again, we can blame the 24/7 media who feeds us a steady diet of things to fear.

My two children were young in the age of the "milk carton children". Years later the statistics showed that most missing children were taken by the non-custodial parent in a divorce situation. Nowadays it's even worse as parents won't even let their junior high kids walk 500 feet to a bus stop let alone wander outdoors.

I think you would enjoy reading that book.

[Luciferous]

29. Half my neighbors use that crap, I worry it's going to make my dog sick!

[deurbano]

32. My daughter had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. (A chronic cough was first misdiagnosed as due to allergies,

but was actually caused by a tumor crushing her esophagus!) She has been in remission for 5 years, and her hematologist said he has never seen a relapse of her rather rare type of lymphoma after a remission of even two years... so her prognosis is excellent (fingers crossed). But the chemo was brutal, especially for someone (like my daughter) who is also quadriplegic, so after checking into the hospital for what was supposed to be five days of treatment, she wasn't able to check back out for five months! (In the meantime, she endured a nasal feeding tube...then a stomach tube... and she developed her first ever pressure ulcer, which advanced to a very dangerous Stage 4, which meant the chemo protocol had to be prematurely ended... etc.... a very crap time.)

When my daughter was less than a year old, I (her teenaged mother) worked as a flagger for a crop duster in the fields around Bakersfield. I wonder if I brought anything home on my clothes that she might have been exposed to at a vulnerable developmental time? Or would that exposure have been much too long ago?

I guess I'm considering the possibility of exposure during a "vulnerable developmental time" because my daughter's disability (cerebral palsy) may have been caused by my exposure to the CMV virus when I was working in a pre-school while pregnant with her. While normally pretty harmless, the virus can be quite damaging to a fetus at a "vulnerable developmental time," and I did have something I assumed was the "flu" in the first trimester.
http://usa.childcareaware.org/2017/06/the-danger-of-spreading-cmv-how-we-we-can-protect-our-children/

At any rate, she is doing very well now--back to her busy life, with long hair again--and she was recently reappointed by Speaker Pelosi as a delegate to the CA Democratic Party... and she also continues her work as an activist/advocate on behalf of domestic workers and people with disabilities, in addition to her many other contributions. It seems supremely unfair that she had to deal with cancer on top of everything else she has had to deal with... but even though life's not fair (this just in!), I'm really proud that her difficult experiences have just made her stronger and more tenacious in trying to make the world a better place.

(But lymphoma sucks, and hopefully this research can be used to prevent at least some new cases!)

[Duppers]

37. K & R