RodISHI
Platinum Member
- Nov 29, 2008
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Monsanto lied to EPA, Legislators and anyone who would hear for years about the dangers of PCB's, dangers Aspartame and all the other products they have distributed among the people for more than seventy years. They told people that Round up was a safe product and water soluble when in fact it is not. How many people do these guys get to injure maim and kill before they are stopped?
What you won't hear from agencies in the U.S.
What you won't hear from agencies in the U.S.
People that believe this stuff is safe is because Monsanto said it was safe.Study Released in Argentina Puts Glyphosate Under Fire
Marie Trigona | July 13, 2009
Argentina has seen an explosion in genetically modified (GM) soy bean production with soy exports topping $16.5 billion in 2008. The fertile South American nation is now the world's third largest producer of soy, trailing behind the United States and Brazil. However, this lucrative industrial form of farming has come under fire with environmental groups, local residents, and traditional farmers reporting that GM soy threatens biodiversity, the nation's ability to feed itself, and health in rural communities.
Criticism of the soy farming model intensified recently when research released by Argentina's top medical school showed that a leading chemical used in soy farming may be harmful to human health. The study has alarmed policymakers in the South American nation.
A study released by an Argentine scientist earlier this year reports that glyphosate, patented by Monsanto under the name "Round Up," causes birth defects when applied in doses much lower than what is commonly used in soy fields.
The study was directed by a leading embryologist, Dr. Andres Carrasco, a professor and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires. In his office in the nation's top medical school, Dr. Carrasco shows me the results of the study, pulling out photos of birth defects in the embryos of frog amphibians exposed to glyphosate. The frog embryos grown in petri dishes in the photos looked like something from a futuristic horror film, creatures with visible defectsone eye the size of the head, spinal cord deformations, and kidneys that are not fully developed.
"We injected the amphibian embryo cells with glyphosate diluted to a concentration 1,500 times than what is used commercially and we allowed the amphibians to grow in strictly controlled conditions." Dr. Carrasco reports that the embryos survived from a fertilized egg state until the tadpole stage, but developed obvious defects which would compromise their ability to live in their normal habitats.
Pointing to the color photos spread on his desk, Dr. Carrasco says, "On the side where the contaminated cell was injected you can see defects in the eye and defects in the cartilage." Continued......
Glyphosate:
A review of its health and environmental effects
By Andre Leu
Glyphosate is the active ingredient of some of the most common herbicides used in farming and gardening. These products have been promoted as quickly biodegradable and non toxic. People believe that they are so safe that you can drink a cup of these herbicides without any ill effect.
Consequently, it is sprayed on roadsides while people are driving, on footpaths when people are shopping and in schoolyards and sports fields, exposing children to drift and residues. People buy it from supermarkets or garden shops and use it without any protective clothing because it is deemed safe. It is sprayed in national parks and other environmentally sensitive areas in the belief that it is not toxic and or residual.
I continuously hear primary industries officers and other agricultural specialists telling farmers that it is not necessary to wear any protective clothing because it is harmless.
Unfortunately, the facts show that this is not the case. While pure Glyphosate has a low acute toxicity (the amount needed to cause death), when it is sold as a commercial herbicide it is combined with surfactants and other ingredients to make it more effective at killing plants. Studies show that the commercial products, such as Round Up, can be three times more toxic than pure glyphosate.
Health Problems - so safe that you can drink it.
Japanese researchers analysing suicides have found that drinking ¾ of a cup (200 millilitres) of commercial glyphosate products is fatal.
Survivors (those who consumed less than ¾ of a cup) suffered a range of severe health problems. These problems included intestinal pain, vomiting, erosion of the gastrointestinal tract, excess fluid in the lungs, pneumonia, lung dysfunction, clouding of consciousness, destruction of red blood cells, abnormal electrocardiograms, low blood pressure, kidney damage and damage to the larynx. It is important to note that damage to the kidneys and the lungs is usually permanent. These body tissues do not repair themselves, instead forming scar tissue that does not function to help filter toxins from the blood or breathe oxygen.
In California, where there is a mandatory system of reporting pesticide poisoning, Glyphosate is the third most common cause of pesticide illness in farm workers. It is the most common form of reported pesticide poisoning in landscape gardeners.
Two separate studies in Sweden have linked exposure to Glyphosate to Hairy Cell Leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. These types of cancers were extremely rare, however non-Hodgkins lymphoma is the most rapidly increasing cancer in the Western world. It has risen by 73% in the USA since 1973. Another study has found a higher incidence of Parkinson disease amongst farmers who used herbicides, including Glyphosate.
Other studies show that Glyphosate and commercial herbicides containing Glyphosate cause a range of cell mutations and damage to cell DNA. These types of changes are usually regarded as precursors to cancer and birth defects.
Reproductive Effects
Studies show that exposure to Glyphosate is associated with a range of reproductive effects in humans and other species. Research from Ontario, Canada found that a fathers exposure to Glyphosate was linked to an increase in miscarriages and premature births in farm families.
Glyphosate caused a decrease in the sperm count of rats and an increase in abnormal and dead sperms in rabbits. Pregnant rabbits exposed to Glyphosate had a decrease in the weight of their babies.
Residual
The proponents of Glyphosate herbicides promote them as environmentally friendly or benign. They say that they breakdown very quickly in the environment.
The facts show otherwise. A report from The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that Glyphosate is extremely persistent under typical application conditions. It is one of the most residual herbicides, with studies in Sweden showing that one application can last up to 3 years.
In warmer climates, it can take less than a year per application for Glyphosate to degrade. However, when it breaks down it does not disappear into harmless basic elements. It degrades into an even more residual compound called aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). While AMPA has a low acute toxicity, the studies conducted on this compound show that it damages the livers and bladders of rats. Unfortunately, very few long term health and environmental studies are conducted on the breakdown products of synthetic chemicals.
Residues of Glyphosate have been found in a variety of fruits and vegetables. This is because it readily moves into all parts of a plant. As it is inside the plant tissues, it cannot be washed off.
Residues can be detected long after glyphosate treatments have been made. One study showed that lettuces contained residues five months after the field was treated with glyphosate. The disturbing thing about this research is that the lettuce seedlings were planted four months after the field was sprayed for weeds. The seedlings absorbed the glyphosate from the soil residues.
A World Health Organisation study revealed significant Glyphosate residues in wheat after harvest. Milling did not remove it, as it moves into the plant and the wheat seed. The study showed that cooking does not break down Glyphosate.
Environmental Effects
Glyphosate is very toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. Concentrations as low as 10 parts per million can kill fish. Daphnia, a very important part of the aquatic food chain, especially for fish, can be killed by as little as three parts per million. This is an important reason why it should not be used near waterways or in drains.
Glyphosate is extremely toxic to the soil life. One application can cause a dramatic plunge in the number of beneficial soil microorganisms and arthropods. Studies show a reduction in the species that build humus, thus it contributes to the decline in soil organic matter.
Glyphosate significantly reduces the activity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These bacteria transform soil nitrogen into forms that plants can use. Studies of Soybeans grown for nitrogen fixation showed a reduction in the number of rhizobium bacteria and the nitrogen they produce when Glyphosate was used for weed control.
Other studies show that Glyphosate herbicides increase the susceptibility of plants to diseases. This is partly because it reduces the growth of mycorrhizal fungi and other beneficial fungi that help plants absorb nutrients and help fight disease. However, plants suffer more disease, as there is an increase in the soil pathogens and a decrease beneficial species that control diseases after an application Glyphosate.
Glyphosate exposure damages or reduces the populations of earthworms. A New Zealand study showed that 5% of the usual application rate caused delayed development and increased death in earthworms.
Glyphosate reduces populations of small mammals and birds by damaging the vegetation that provides food and shelter for these animals.
The populations of all of these living organisms can take years to recover due to Glyphosates persistence in the soil.
more at the link.......