This story appears in the September 2017 issue ofNational Geographic magazine. In a potato field near the Netherlands’ border with Belgium, Dutch farmer Jacob van den Borne is seated in the cabin of an immense harvester before an instrument panel worthy of the starship Enterprise.
With all the controversies around pesticides, herbicides, and other -cides it would be good for California to accelerate its move towards organic farming and become the first fully organic state in the U.S. I know it will take time, but better to once again be on the leading edge rather than wait for a major scandal in the agrochemical business to drive a call to rush towards organic food.
My suggestion for lawmakers are the following:
Remove Section 11501.1 of the California Food and Agricultural Code. Section 11501.1 was written by the agrochemical industry (yes, corporations often provide text for laws and regulations!) and says that individual counties and cities in the state cannot have stricter standards than what state law provides. Removing it will allow cities and counties to make their own decisions, so the transition can happen over time. This will be a slow process, but it is a way for politicians to show they are looking ahead, and lets cities and counties respond to constituents’ concerns.
All “-cides” must be proven by independent scientists to be safe before entering the market.
No desiccants are allowed in California.
No spraying of crops are allowed the last month before harvesting. This will remove some toxins at least.
If we are to make California the first organic state in the U.S., a time- and goal- based strategic plan is needed. Here are some suggestions:
Planning for the transition. We need to educate farmers, and that means partnering with organic organizations, agriculture students, colleges and universities. We need the drafting of well thought-out proposed laws (that include backup plans for emergencies).
Much of the agriculural land in California has been abused for years. Insect, soil, and plant diversity is out of balance. Buffer zones and some wild areas here and there will need to be included as balance is restored. During the first couple of years, spraying will be allowed if absolutely necessary.
Farmers are going to need financial support during the transition as well as education and practical support. Current water policy favoring the large landowners in the Centeral Valley as well as farming subsidies will need to be altered to meet the changing needs. Cooperatives of farmers, experienced organic growers, and consumers may be a way to keep the growing and distribution system together during the transition.
The major obstacle to this plan is the economic clout of the agrochemical business and their sway over politicians at every level of government. We can be sure donations to politicians will skyrocket the moment this plan is suggested. Their next move will be to hit all the media with a food-security alert message to farmers and to the general public, saying that we can’t have farming without -cides. Yes we can! This is California! We can do anything!
January 7th, 2017: Doctors Confirm First Human Death Officially Caused by GMO’s
Madrid – Doctors of the Carlos III hospital confirmed this morning in a press conference, the first case of human death caused by the ingestion of genetically modified food. Juan Pedro Ramos died from anaphylaxis after eating some recently developed tomatoes containing fish genes, which provoked a violent and lethal allergic reaction.
It is at times difficult to find reliable information on GMO in U.S. media. Very often we have to look at other countries and what they are doing. The U.S. corporations have a lot of power through lobbyists and money.
There are inventions that helps clean up our garbage. The question that bothers me is why we need these inventions. Why don’t people take responsibility for their surroundings?
The title of this page is important. It is OUR environment we are talking about. We are a part of it and share it with other beings. Often when I read articles there are always a distance between the author and nature. As if nature and environment is somehow not a part of their lives. We need to be aware of how we address issues and make them personal to us.
The main problem for us today is that glyphosate is in the food that most of us eat daily. You can reduce the exposure by changing to organic food. The most important ingredients to change are grains, soy and corn. Here is a map showing where glyphosate is applied the most. Not all areas have data.
We have also learned through one court case that Monsanto and a senior EPA official were working together to stop an investigation about how dangerous glyphosate is. Of course, that is not evidence that glyphosate is dangerous, but it certainly doesn’t contribute to the public opinion of Monsanto or their products.
U.N. experts have denounced the myth that we need pesticides and herbicides to feed the worlds population. The developments in agroecology has come so far that we can replace chemicals with biology, making it possible to grow enough food on this planet to nourish the worlds population without pesticides.
Scientists are warning that with the current soil degradation, we might have only 60 years left of farming the way we know it today.
Many weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to glyphosate/Roundup. Which means you are spraying something that might be useless around your home, but can be dangerous to yourself, your loved ones and other beings.
However, for the agriculture business it is much worse. Most farmers today totally rely on Roundup in their farming practice, and it will normally take about three to five years to change over to an organic farm. This is where the agriculture subsidies should go. Not to buy pesticides (herbicides, insecticides etc.)
Alternatives to Roundup
The best solution is to make the soil healthy. I would contact an expert. The city of Irvine changed from using glyphosate based products to an organic non-toxic approach and they got in an expert that taught how to manage their parks and other areas. Integrated pest management (IPM) is important in this regard. If it looks different from grass, it doesn’t mean it is a weed. Myths: Busted–Clearing Up the Misunderstandings about Organic Farming
There are some alternatives that can be used. They might not kill the root, but they will kill the leaves. Mostly people are using vinegar (20%, regular is 7%), certain soaps and/or essential oils like citrus oil. Some have found that a mixture of these are more effective.
Look for products that are “OMRI listed” or “USDA Organic” (or other certification icons.) Please read the labels on how to handle any of these products.
The web site for Non Toxic Irvine. The group that started the change. They have a lot of resources on how you can work on cleaning up your city or community.
It is important to differentiate between glyphosate and Roundup in a discussion about health concerns. Glyphosate seems to be less harmful than Roundup in most tests.
Research released ahead of print and published in the journal Archives of Toxicology indicates that Roundup, the most common formulation of the herbicide glyphosate, is not only more toxic than its constituent ingredients, but is capable of damaging DNA within a human cell line when diluted down to 450-fold lower concentrations than presently used in GMO agricultural applications. In the researchers’ own words, Roundup has “genotoxic effects after short exposure to concentrations that correspond to a 450-fold dilution of spraying used in agriculture.”
“Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. We tested the effects of glyphosate and Roundup at lower nontoxic concentrations on aromatase, the enzyme responsible for estrogen synthesis. The glyphosate-based herbicide disrupts aromatase activity and mRNA levels and interacts with the active site of the purified enzyme, but the effects of glyphosate are facilitated by the Roundup formulation in microsomes or in cell culture. We conclude that endocrine and toxic effects of Roundup, not just glyphosate, can be observed in mammals. We suggest that the presence of Roundup adjuvants enhances glyphosate bioavailability and/or bioaccumulation.”
Glyphosate in human beings
There is no doubt that if you are living in the U.S. there is a 90+% chance that you have glyphosate in your body. Many people will not be affected or believe they are affected by it.
We will take a look at some research to see where the exposure comes from and what effects it has on human cells and your body.
How are we exposed to glyphosate?
Most of us are exposed from the food we eat and the water we drink. Others are exposed directly from spraying it in their gardens/farms or from their pets walking through it.
However, a study done in Mississippi and Iowa (partially Indiana) during growing season, showed 60-100% of the samples contained glyphosate. Rain can effectively remove it from the air, but then it will be in the water.
Testing of groundwater in Catalonia, Spain showed that 41% of 140 groundwater tests showed very high levels of contamination. Which again indicates that Roundup/glyphosate does NOT break down as easily in nature as we have been told.
What most people doesn’t know is that glyphosate is being used as a ripening agent (desiccant) just before harvesting. This means there is residue of glyphosate on the food that we buy. EPA have approved it for use on 161 products. However, I have not been able to find that list.
A lab test of ten California wines concluded they all contained trace amounts of the active ingredient from some weed-killers, glyphosate. Whether that is cause for concern is a matter of great dispute. We know how important this issue is to so many people, so we traveled to St.
What effects does glyphosate or Roundup have on human beings?
Research published in 2012 shows that Roundup diluted 450 times compared to GMO agricultural application, will harm human DNA. Of course, you will say that our body can fix itself. That is true, but it depends on the scale of harm it is exposed to and what environment you are in. You can fall down a ladder, but the outcome depends on how you land.
People that is directly exposed to glyphosate can have severe respiratory symptoms as this report from North-Carolina and Iowa shows. Keep in mind that we are talking about farmers that are using it on their farms and are exposed to higher dosages than regular home users. However, do we want our farmers to become sick?
Testing done on rats in Brazil in 2003 showed increased risk of teratogenicity (skeletal alterations on fetuses). This is likely to happen to humans as well if we get exposed to high doses of Roundup.
In France in 2009 they did tests on human cells to see if diluted glyphosate and Roundup would kill them. It did.
People using glyphosate or are exposed to it in other ways, can get non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer etc. There are also studies that suggest glyphosate causes non-alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune diseases etc. At the moment it is not decided in the U.S. that glyphosate or Roundup is the cause for cancer.
The studies below need more evaluation to make sure they are accurate. However, they might be an indication that we are not dealing with autism, but symptoms caused by microbial imbalance in the intestines.
On this topic we need to take a look at GMO corn as well as that does contain glyphosate or Roundup. There have been done some studies in Europe that showed a high risk of certain types of cancers. The development of cancer happens over time. One study by Dr. Seraline was retracted. Not because the testing was done wrong, but because an ex-Monsanto employee became the editor for the journal. Officially it was because the review panel thought they had used too few animals and they had used Sprague–Dawley rats. You can read some of the results here. However, the study has been republished later in other publications.
Research done in Italy indicates that there is a higher risk for children to develop leukemia when living near arable crops. This study does not talk explicitly about glyphosate, but it is one of the toxins used. The number of children was too low to have a definite answer, but high enough that more investigation is advised. “RESULTS: Childhood leukemia risk did not increase in relation with any of the crop types with the exception of arable crops, characterized by the use of 2.4-D, MCPA, glyphosate, dicamba, triazine and cypermethrin. The very few children (n=11) residing close to arable crops had an OR for childhood leukemia of 2.04 (95% CI 0.50-8.35), and such excess risk was further enhanced among children aged<5 years.”
Glyphosate herbicides have been used in self-poisonings and many deaths have occurred, especially in Asia, from as little as 3/4 of a cup of formulated product.
Other concerns
High levels of glyphosate in breast milk. The number of women in this study is very low, but I found it worth adding since it indicate that glyphosate is bio-accumulative, meaning that it builds up in the body.
There is one study in France that indicate that not all parts of Roundup are broken down, and that one glyphosate metabolite (aminomethylphosphonic acid) accumulates in the soil. As a result the soil might become less sustainable over time.
Glyphosate persistence in seawater was tested in Australia in 2014. Abstract: “Glyphosate is one of the most widely applied herbicides globally but its persistence in seawater has not been reported. Here we quantify the biodegradation of glyphosate using standard ‘‘simulation’’ flask tests with native bacterial populations and coastal seawater from the Great Barrier Reef. The half-life for glyphosate at 25°C in low-light was 47 days, extending to 267 days in the dark at 25°C and 315 days in the dark at 31°C, which is the longest persistence reported for this herbicide. AMPA, the microbial transformation product of glyphosate, was detected under all conditions, confirming that degradation was mediated by the native microbial community. This study demonstrates glyphosate is moderately persistent in the marine water under low light conditions and is highly persistent in the dark. Little degradation would be expected during flood plumes in the tropics, which could potentially deliver dissolved and sediment-bound glyphosate far from shore.
Counties, cities and schools that use organic methods
Marin county, CA
Malibu, CA
LAUSD
Arcata, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Cruz, CA
K-8 CT state schools
K-12 NY state schools
Harvard University
Philips Andover Academy, NH
Granby, Essex, Cheshire and Plainville, CT
Wichita and Lawrence, KS
Seattle Park and Recreation Dept.
Seattle University
Evergreen State College
Bastyr University
Bainbridge Island
Lynwood
Portland, OR
Salem, OR
Eugene, OR
Chariho Soccer Fields, Hope Valley, RI
Newton, Marblehead and Wellesley, MA
Mankato Schools, MN
Politicians and Monsanto
The spending bill that was passed this spring (2017), included a provision to promote GE (Genetically Engineered) crops. It is supposed to promote GE crops based on scientific based information based on nutrition, environmental impact, food safety, economic, and humanitarian impacts. If that is true, it will fail on all accounts and the government have wasted $3 million. Scientist’s ground-breaking research uncovers new risks of GMOs, glyphosate.
“Clinton’s relationship with Monsanto dates back to when she worked at the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas, where Monsanto was a client.
Monsanto reportedly gave between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, which has been in the news this week after critics said the organization traded donations for access to the State Department.”
“His (Donald Trump) reported stock holdings in the company may or may not have influenced him to delete a tweet that slammed Monsanto.”
There are now mounting evidence that Monsanto has been working with government agencies and other organizations to cover up how dangerous glyphosate is.
Then there are a couple of articles by New York Times about how agriculture chemical companies influence the scientific research. The articles takes on Syngenta, but in the articlse they argue that this is common for all the big companies. Including Monsanto.
One paragraph from the article: “Roundup is a carcinogen. It includes glyphosate, carcinogens like formaldehyde, and other chemicals, some of which may be more toxic than the IBT-tested glyphosate. The pesticides law classifies these toxic materials as “inerts.”
Sri Lanka was the first country to ban it completely, although that ban may be partially relaxed. The European Union has extended approval for glyphosate for only 18 months instead of the usual 15 years, has banned the use of the surfactant POEA in formulations, and proposed minimised preharvest use and use in public places. The European Food Safety Authority stated that there are so many data gaps for POEA that establishing acceptable exposure limits is impossible. Italy has also banned the preharvest use of glyphosate, its use in public places and those frequented by children and the elderly, and non-agricultural use on soils with high sand content to reduce the potential for contamination of groundwater.
There is a web site that have gathered information about glyphosate and material that you can use to get informed and take action. Here is a link to their Glyphosate Toolkit. There are links to documents in this document. If you can’t find it, send me an email and I will send you the documents that I have. They have also created a library of documents that you can study. MomsacrossAmerica.org are also working to remove glyphosate from schools and public areas. They also have information and action items.
NontoxicIrvine.com has information about what can be used instead of glyphosate and other toxins. They can also give information on how to form a group to stop the use of glyphosate in your community.
California is explicitly preempting local authority on pesticides. This prohibit counties and cities from restricting glyphosate on a local level. In other words, we need to change the state law. In 2008, California State Assemblywomen Fiona Ma introduced AB977 to overturn the California state law that prohibits the restriction of pesticides by local jurisdictions. However, it did not receive 2/3 of the votes.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): U.S. EPA Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (866) EPA-WEST / (415) 947-8000
Email: r9.info@epa.gov
The Importance of Testing for Glyphosate: The World’s Most Widely Used Herbicide — The Great Plains Laboratory, Inc.
BY WILLIAM SHAW, PHD, AND MATTHEW PRATT-HYATT, PHD
DIRECTOR AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE GREAT PLAINS LABORATORY, INC. – PUBLISHED IN THE JANUARY 2017 ISSUE OF TOWNSEND LETTER
Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff published as study titled: Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance in Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013; Vol. 6 (4): 159–184. They produced the following chart showing a correlation between glyphosate use on wheat and Celiac disease: – See more at: http://healthytraditions.com/glyphosate-tested/#sthash.53t2TrPk.dpuf
is under attack these days by the new administration.
It all started out by removing the ‘Stream Protection Rule’ that was installed to stop coal companies from dumping coal in streams. To most Americans it would sound logical to stop mine companies from polluting streams. There are people living further down that would be affected. Not to mention animals and forests that will be affected. And the rule would only affect about 124 jobs. However, the rule was removed in February 2017.
“Appalachian Voices, an environmental group, estimates that coal companies have buried over 2,000 miles of streams in the region through mountaintop removal mining since the 1990s. And there’s growing evidence that when mining debris and waste gets into water supplies, the toxic metals can have dire health impacts for the people and mostly rural communities living nearby.”
The next one on the chopping block will not be so easy to remove. This one is already approved, but held in courts at the moment. Then Pruitt will have to come up with a better plan that is scientifically based. Without EPA’s scientists I am not sure how he will be able to do that!