MONSANTO AND THE EPA ALLEGEDLY HID EVIDENCE LINKING ROUNDUP TO CANCER

There is growing evidence that the agricultural giant Monsanto and the EPA allegedly worked together to hide evidence which links Roundup to cancer, as a new court filing shows. Sixty people that contracted cancer have been named on behalf of the recent court filing which purports that the Environmental Protection Agency worked with Monsanto officials to hide evidence that Roundup is toxic.

Included in the court filing is evidence from an EPA scientist who worked with the agency for 30 years and specifically singles out Jess Rowland, one of the top EPA officials, for using “political conniving games with the science” in order to hand out favors to Monsanto.

The reason Rowland is being named is because this official was in charge of the assessment for glyphosate, which is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and other weed killers and Rowland was also responsible as the main author of a report which found that glyphosate was not deemed to be toxic. However, in correspondence, Marion Copley, a top EPA toxocologist, stated, “It is essentially certain that glyphosate causes cancer,” which came after numerous animal studies. Marion Copley’s correspondence was written on May 4, 2013.

This letter was dated after Marion Copley stopped working for the EPA in 2012, but before she passed away from breast cancer in 2014. Marion alleged that the EPA’s Jess Rowland “intimidated staff” by colluding with Monsanto to change reports in their favor. Copley also wrote that there has been ample research conducted which proves that glyphosate and Monsanto’s Roundup should be considered a “human carcinogen,” as Huffington Post reported.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, A branch of the World Health Organization, has also said that glyphosate was a carcinogen in March 2015. Monsanto, meanwhile, has gone out of their way to try to discredit the IARC and any scientific studies they have conducted or cited.

If the communication from Marion Copley is proven to be legitimate, this could have a major effect on this multi-district litigation case with Monsanto and the EPA. The plaintiffs that are involved in this lawsuit have all either contracted non-Hodgkin lymphoma or have lost someone to the disease. These plaintiffs are citing growing evidence that Monsanto was able to sell their allegedly toxic Roundup because the agricultural company has so much influence within the Office of Pesticide Program, run by the EPA.

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The Dirt on "Agent Orange" GMOs

Last week, news broke that the USDA is recommending the approval of new, herbicide-resistant, genetically engineered corn and soybeans, sometimes referred to as “Agent Orange” GMOs. Here’s what you need to know:

Right after the announcement, concerns sprung up that this new GMO would be “an environmental catastrophe,” since the herbicide, 2,4-D, was an ingredient in the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange.

The USDA issued its initial draft of its environmental impact statement on the corn and soybeans (engineered by Dow AgroSciences and branded under the name Enlist), while the Environmental Protection Agency is working to decide on the environmental effects of the new herbicide, Enlist Duo. So, there’s still a chance that a pin could get put in the whole operation. Good news, of course, for those who are worried about the outcome.

So what’s really at stake? According to Grist.org, if Enlist is approved, there are some positives and negatives. The positive part is that fewer farmers would “adopt aggressive tillage strategies,” according to the USDA assessment. “Aggressive tilling releases a lot of greenhouse gas and leads to topsoil erosion and water pollution.” However, on the negative side, farmers will be spraying more herbicide. “We are already looking at a 75 percent increase in the use of 2,4-D in U.S. agriculture by 2020 even if Enlist flunks the regulatory process.” If approved, “2,4-D use will further increase by another two fold to six fold,” according to the USDA.

Many are wondering if an approval will mean that more and more of these types of GMOs are released. The thing is – 2,4-D-resistant weeds already exist. So the hope is that no matter what happens, Enlist farmers will be willing to change up their weed management practices more often, slowing the spread. But what if it’s used willy-nilly? USDA responds to that questioning saying that it “depends on management practices” and “cannot be predicted.” Not exactly comforting.

The fact remains that while 2,4-D was in Agent Orange, it wasn’t the really nasty stuff. We know a lot about it, given its history and the microscope it’s under. You can check this out for details on toxicity.

Grist.org‘s Nathanael Johnson maintains that “we’ve got to figure out a better way of doing conservation tillage rather than just relying on more and more herbicides. It would be nice if the government could use its regulatory authority to promote big-picture solutions. But in this case, the USDA is firmly focused on the small-picture tradeoff between tilling and herbicide. And in that small picture, it has determined that tilling is more harmful.”

Some of the potential dangers of ‘Agent Orange’ via FoodandWaterWatch.org:

Corn with 2,4-D resistance could be dangerous to eat because a metabolite of 2,4-D is known to cause skin sores, liver damage and sometimes death in animals. 2,4-D is a potential endocrine disruptor and can affect development.

Rats exposed to 2,4-D exhibited depressed thyroid hormone levels, which can affect normal metabolism and brain functioning.  Studies found that men who applied 2,4-D had lower sperm counts and more sperm abnormalities than those unexposed to the herbicide.

Not only is 2,4-D dangerous for human health, but it also spurs weed resistance. According to the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds, there have been 29 weeds found to be resistant to 2,4-D’s family of synthetic auxin herbicides.

The FDA’s Biotechnology Consultation Note for 2,4-D-resistant corn lists several amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that differed from conventional corn and were statistically significant, including glutamic acid, oleic acid, vitamin C and zinc.

On February 23, 2012, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to respond to a 2008 petition to cancel registration of 2,4-D, citing its common use despite links to cancer, cell damage, reproductive problems and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. With the approval of 2,4-D resistant corn, NRDC claims that use of 2,4-D could grow 50-fold.

Aside from its harmful endocrine and carcinogenic effects, 2,4-D is a very volatile herbicide, which can easily drift onto nearby crops, vegetables and flowers. In fact, a comparative risk assessment found that 2,4-D was 400 times more likely to cause non-target plant injury than glyphosate (also known as Roundup, the herbicide many currently used GE crops are engineered to survive.)

If you’re concerned about the USDA approving 2,4-D herbicide, sign the petition below.

Source: Grist.org

Links and Petition HERE

Toxicology Expert Speaks Out About Roundup and GMOs

Story at-a-glance:

*There are NO peer-reviewed scientific papers establishing the safety of GMO crops. There are, however, both clinical and peer-reviewed scientific papers showing the hazards of GMO crops, including harmful secondary effects

*Epidemiological patterns show there’s an identical rise in over 30 human diseases alongside our increased usage of glyphosate and the increased prevalence of genetically engineered proteins in our food

*Glyphosate is not “just” an herbicide. It was originally patented as a mineral chelator. It immobilizes nutrients, making them unavailable for your body. It’s also patented as a potent antibiotic that can devastate human gut bacteria

*The EPA recently doubled the amount of glyphosate allowed in food. Soybean oil is now allowed to contain a whopping 400 times the limit at which it can impact your health

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