There are serious concerns regarding roundup but this attempt to link it to low level chronic inflammation runs rather thin. It would be easier to
start with automobile air pollution.
Yet there is a problem. This is now an invasive broadly applied product that is unavoidable and that means we are running an uncontrollable long term experiment. In fact if we are going
to speculate, it could well be linked to the reduction of male sperm counts
over the past two generations. There are
also few other possible prospects if any.
At the same time we have had a serious
global decline in amphibian populations and an easy skin toxicity link to
roundup.
In short, I am very uncomfortable
and welcome the steady rise of the organic protocol. Add in the pending emergence of the biochar
protocol and this will all fade into history and expired patents during the
next three generations.
I would like to see roundup
limited to one time applications, prior to planting a multiyear crop. This is so we can control certain grasses
that damage the viability of such crops.
We have satisfactory alternatives otherwise.
Heavy use of herbicide Roundup linked to health dangers-U.S. study
Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:49pm EDT
* Study says chemical residues linked to disease
* Roundup developer Monsanto says glyphosate is safe
* Researchers say more study is needed
By Carey Gillam
April 25 (Reuters) - Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup,
could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including
Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.
The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal
Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the
chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of
acres of crops, has been found in food.
Those residues enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the environment to disrupt normal body functions and induce disease, according to the report, authored by Stephanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant from Arthur D. Little, Inc. Samsel is a former private environmental government contractor as well as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly
over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body,"
the study says.
We "have hit upon something very important that needs to be taken seriously and further investigated," Seneff said.
Environmentalists, consumer groups and plant scientists from several
countries have warned that heavy use of glyphosate is causing problems for
plants, people and animals.
The EPA is conducting a standard registration review of glyphosate and
has set a deadline of 2015 for determining if glyphosate use should be limited.
The study is among many comments submitted to the agency.
Monsanto is the developer of both Roundup herbicide and a suite of
crops that are genetically altered to withstand being sprayed with the Roundup
weed killer.
These biotech crops, including corn, soybeans, canola and sugarbeets,
are planted on millions of acres in the United States
Roundup is also popularly used on lawns, gardens and golf courses.
Monsanto and other leading industry experts have said for years that glyphosate is proven safe, and has a less damaging impact on the environment than other commonly used chemicals.
Jerry Steiner, Monsanto's executive vice president of sustainability,
reiterated that in a recent interview when questioned about the study.
"We are very confident in the long track record that glyphosate
has. It has been very, very extensively studied," he said.
Of the more than two dozen top herbicides on the market, glyphosate is the
most popular. In 2007, as much as 185 million pounds of glyphosate was used
by U.S.
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