It’s no wonder that Monsanto is trying to fight “rumors” that
its pesticide products are causing serious health damage to unborn
children and to people of all ages. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, has been named the most widely used herbicide in history.
A paper recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe
states that 18.9 billion pounds (8.6 billion kilograms) of glyphosate
have been used globally. The herbicide’s use has risen almost 15-fold
since the introduction of so-called “Roundup Ready” genetically
engineered crops in the 90’s.
The author of the paper, Charles Benbrook, Ph.D., states:
“The dramatic and rapid growth in overall use of
glyphosate will likely contribute to a host of adverse environmental and
public health consequences.”
Enough glyphosate was applied in 2014 to cover every harvested acre
of cropland worldwide several times over, with estimates of its use
coming in at (minimally) 0.53 kilogram/hectare. This makes glyphosate
the most commonly used and widely sprayed herbicide in history.
Accurate pesticide use data are essential when
studying the environmental and public health impacts of pesticide use.
Since the mid-1990s, significant changes have occurred in when and how
glyphosate herbicides are applied, and there has been a dramatic increase in the total volume applied.
Since 1974 in the U.S., over 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate active ingredient have been applied,
or 19 % of estimated global use of glyphosate (8.6 billion kilograms).
Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called
“Roundup Ready,” genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops were
introduced in 1996.
Monsanto clearly doesn’t want its product, so widely in use, to be named as ‘probably carcinogenic’ or an ‘endocrine disruptor’
as so many scientific studies suggest. Mounting evidence and alarm
bells are being sounded around the globe that this toxic chemical brew,
Roundup, is killing our pollinators, causing serious health damage, yet
still being sprayed heavily. The Big Ag company has billions to lose if
its mainstay is no longer a best seller.
Dr. Benbrook cautions
that many studies have linked exposure to glyphosate with degeneration
of the liver and kidney. When given at high doses, glyphosate has also
been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in animal tests.
Opposing his arguments are agencies like the Environmental Protection
Agency, which suggests that it is impossible to get realistic exposure
past the No Effect Level in humans, except by using gavage (direct
dosing) and surfactants. Such gavage has been performed in laboratory
rats and basically amounts to sticking a tube of pesticide directly into
the stomach to increase uptake.
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