1. Monsanto’s Roundup linked to fatal, chronic kidney disease. Article in
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, February 2014
What happens when you mix glyphosate,
the key active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, with “hard” water?
That is, water that contains metals, such as calcium, magnesium,
strontium and iron, either found naturally in the soil, or resulting
from the use of chemical fertilizers?
The glyphosate becomes “extremely toxic” to the kidneys.
That’s the theory
put forth by researchers trying to uncover the mystery of thousands of
deaths from chronic kidney disease among people in farming areas of Sri
Lanka, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
2. Monsanto’s Roundup persists in soil and water. U.S. Geological Survey report in
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, February 2014
Monsanto has always insisted (despite evidence to the contrary) that its Roundup herbicide is benign, that its toxicity doesn’t persist.
But that’s only half the story, according to a study published this
month in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Researchers now say
that if you study only the key active ingredient, glyphosate, you might,
as Monsanto claims, determine that Roundup is benign.
But there are other ingredients in Roundup, including one called
Aminomethylphosphonic acid, or AMPA. The study, called "Pesticides in
Mississippi air and rain: A comparison between 1995 and 2007," found
that glyphosate and its still-toxic byproduct, AMPA, were found in over
75 percent of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007.
What does that mean for you? According to one analysis,
“if you were breathing in the sampled air you would be inhaling
approximately 2.5 nanograms of glyphosate per cubic meter of air. It has
been estimated the average adult inhales approximately 388 cubic feet
or 11 cubic meters of air per day, which would equal to 27.5 nanograms
(billionths of a gram) of glyphosate a day.” Gasp.
3. GMO crops have led to an increase in use of pesticides and herbicides. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, February 2014.
The USDA, which gauging from its track record has never met a GMO crop
it didn’t like, published a report substantiating what responsible,
independent scientists have been saying along. Genetic engineering does
not result in increased yields (as industry would have us believe)—but it
has led to the increased (not decreased, as industry claims) use of pesticides and herbicides.
To be fair, the report gives overall favorable reviews to GMO crops. Not surprising, given the agency’s cozy relationship
with Monsanto. But that makes it all the more telling that the once
staunch-defender of GMO crops is now raising questions about industry’s
long-term, decidedly unproven and unscientific, claims that
biotechnology is the best thing since sliced (GMO wheat) bread.
4. Pesticides are more dangerous than we thought. Article in
BioMed Research International, February 2014
More bad news on pesticides. A study published in
BioMed Research International
this month says that it’s not just the toxic chemicals we need to worry
about in pesticides. It’s the inert ingredients, and how they interact
with the active, toxic ingredients.
Typically, studies conducted to determine the safety of pesticides focus
exclusively on the active ingredients. But scientists at the University
of Caen tested eight commercial products, including Roundup, and found
that nine of them were hundreds of times more toxic than their active
ingredient alone.
Which product won the “Most Toxic” award? Monsanto’s Roundup, which was
found to be “by far the most toxic of the herbicides and insecticides
tested,” according to the study.
5. Small-Scale, organic farming needed to feed the world. U.N. Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
Wake Up Before It Is Too Late, December 2013
In December 2013, the U.N. Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
released the results of a lengthy, in-depth study that blows a huge hole
in one of Monsanto’s favorite claims, that we need GMOs to feed the
world. The study, entitled
Wake Up Before it is Too Late, concluded with this warning: Small-scale organic farming is the only way to feed the world.
According to an analysis
by one of the report’s contributors, the report contains in-depth
sections on the shift toward more sustainable, resilient agriculture;
livestock production and climate change; the importance of research and
extension; the role of land use; and the role of reforming global trade
rules.
More than 60 experts from around the world contributed to the report.
Clearly the evidence—real, scientific evidence—against GMO crops is
mounting, when five new anti-GMO studies and reports surface in a matter
of a couple of months.
How much more will it take before the USDA, U.S. Food & Drug
Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stop
supporting an industry under attack from the scientific community? And
start putting public health before corporate profits?
In December, more than 200 scientists, physicians, and experts from relevant fields, signed a statement
declaring that the biotech industry is deceiving the public when it
claims that GMOs are safe. There is, the group said, no “scientific
consensus” to support industry’s claims that GMOs are safe.
But as new studies surface every day, it’s become increasingly clear
that among credible physicians and scientists, the consensus is that
we’d better wake up, soon, to the risks and threats posed by a reckless
technology that has been allowed to dominate our food and farming
systems, unchecked, for far too long.
Taken from here
The link has more details and links to the various reports quoted. What the article reveals above all else is how the capitalist system works - to the benefit of those holding the purse strings: corporations, lobbyists and compliant government agencies working against the common good in favour of profit for the few and favours for the acquiescent. Big money pours into obfuscating the truth whether concerning GM crops, agribusiness in general, climate change, pharmaceuticals, the fossil fuel business (currently fracking) or any other specific area one cares to mention. Profit over people. Profit over planet. The alternative is socialism.
JS
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