18
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 18, 2007) Since 2000, the United States has financed aerial spraying of glyphosate over Colombia’s coca crops, the raw material of cocaine, as part of the “War on Drugs.” Scientists from Pontificia Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador, have completed a study of 24 residents living within three kilometers of the Colombian border — an area targeted by the coca spraying – and have found a wide variety of ailments. The study’s subjects suffer from symptoms that include intestinal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, numbness, blurred vision, skin irritation, rashes, and difficulty breathing. In addition, the damage to their chromosomes was 600 to 800 percent greater than that of people living 80 km away, which can signal possible conditions like cancer and reproductive effects like miscarriages. The U.S. has increased the spraying each year since 2000, including the addition of a fourth spray team in 2006. In 2006, the Colombian National Police’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DIRAN) sprayed more than 424,055 acres of coca. Extensive research in recent years regarding glyphosate’s toxicity to placental cells and aquatic life, among others, has prompted the U.S. Congress to seek guarantees that Colombian wetlands would not be sprayed, but the program continues to […]
Posted in Glyphosate, International | No Comments »
11
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 11, 2007) According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service, the number of genetically engineered (GE) crop acres by U.S. farmers has skyrocketed since their introduction in 1996, despite resistance from consumers and concerns about agricultural and environmental impacts. Because the U.S. does not require GE crops to be labeled, the only way to be sure you are not consuming these products is to buy organic, which forbids the use of GE technologies. Soybeans and cotton genetically engineered with herbicide-tolerant traits have been the most widely and rapidly adopted GE crops in the U.S., followed by insecticide-incorporated cotton and corn. The chart below shows the growth of GE soybeans, cotton and corn since 1996. (HT = modified to be herbicide tolerant, Bt = modified to produce the insecticide Bt) Since 2000, use of HT soybeans has increased from 54% of acreage planted with the crop to 91% in 2007. GE corn varieties, both HT and Bt, have increased from 25% to 73%. Cotton varieties, both HT and Bt, have increased from 61% to 87%. In addition to the lack of information available on the long-term safety of GE products, Beyond Pesticides is concerned with […]
Posted in Bt, Dicamba, Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate | No Comments »
11
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 11, 2007) Scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) have discovered a gene that enables crops to tolerate being sprayed with dicamba. Citing previous experience with glyphosate resistant crops, environmentalists are concerned that this will increase use of a toxic herbicide while negatively impacting health and the environment. This new gene expands the range of genetically engineered (GE) crops available to farmers. The most popular are currently marketed as “Roundup Ready,” or tolerant of glyphosate, by Monsanto Company The discovery is being touted as a way to provide another option in areas where weeds have built up a resistance to glyphosate. Indeed, biochemist Don Weeks, who headed the UNL team, said, “Importantly, we think that this technology will help to extend the lifetime of the Roundup Ready technology. Some Roundup-resistant weeds have emerged in recent years, but working dicamba products into a weed-control strategy with Roundup could help counter that trend and lead to more complete weed control.” In fact, the dicamba-ready technology could appear in fields as part of a “stacked” seed, which is tolerant to both glyphosate and dicamba. Said Mr. Weeks, “It is highly likely that [Monsanto] would stack our gene with the Roundup […]
Posted in Dicamba, Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate, Monsanto | 1 Comment »
01
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 1, 2007) More than a month after ordering a temporary halt to sales of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa seeds, federal district court judge Charles Breyer is considering making the ban permanent, at least until the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that confirms the seeds’ safety. (See Daily News of March 14 for Judge Breyer’s reasoning for siding against Monsanto’s team of lawyers, who were arguing that an EIS is unnecessary.) On why he was reluctant to reauthorize the planting of the GE crop, Breyer said, “It is not the court’s function to do an environmental impact study. That hasn’t been done, and I don’t know if the court ought to do it. The government ought to do it, and that is what I held.” Arguments by industry lawyers emphasized their belief that there is very little likelihood of damage being done by the GE alfalfa. Monsanto, which developed the seeds marketed as “Roundup Ready,” argued that there is an “extremely low risk” of conventional crops being contaminated, providing “appropriate stewardship measures” are taken. Monsanto Lawyer Janice Schneider even said, “There are some significant environmental and beneficial effects in Roundup […]
Posted in Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate | No Comments »
29
Mar
(Beyond Pesticides, March 29, 2007) While it seems to allergy-sufferers that symptoms get worse year after year, most figure it’s all in our heads. However, research by Lewis Ziska, Ph.D., a plant physiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Crop Systems and Global Change Lab and speaker at the upcoming National Pesticide Forum, shows that common pollen allergens – including the troublesome ragweed pollen – may be getting worse as a result of global climate change. The conventional response to unwanted plants is increased pesticide use, which raises concerns among environmental and public health advocates. According to Dr. Ziska’s research, elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the top greenhouse gas, and warmer temperatures appear to increase ragweed pollen production. Dr. Ziska’s research uses sealed growth chamber systems to simulate current levels of CO2 (370 parts per million by volume, ppmv) and that projected for the mid-21st century (600 ppmv). The ragweed increased pollen productivity by 131 and 3200% respectively, compared to ragweed grown at pre-industrial CO2 levels (280 ppmv). A recent two-year real-world observational study of ragweed also found that urbanization-induced increases in CO2 and temperature were associated with increased ragweed growth, pollen production and pollen allergenicity, suggesting a probable […]
Posted in Chemicals, Climate Change, Disease/Health Effects, Glyphosate | No Comments »
15
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 15, 2007) On February 13, a U.S. District judge ruled that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated federal environmental law by failing to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa seeds before deregulating them in 2005. Ruling on a lawsuit brought by environmental and farming groups, including Beyond Pesticides, Sierra Club and Center for Food Safety, Judge Charles R. Breyer found that USDA did not adequately defend its decision to forgo an EIS, while validating a number of the plaintiffs’ arguments. Alfalfa is the U.S.’s fourth-largest crop, and third most valuable. GE alfalfa seeds, primarily marketed by Monsanto as Roundup Ready, are engineered with a gene that causes them to be resistant to glyphosate. Among the plaintiffs’ concerns are contamination and cross-pollination between GE and natural crops, which can occur at a distance of up to two miles. Judge Beyer wrote, “Such gene transmission is especially likely in this context given the geographic concentration of alfalfa seed production.” He continued, “For those farmers who choose to grow non-genetically engineered alfalfa, the possibility that their crops will be infected with the engineered gene is tantamount to the elimination of all alfalfa; they […]
Posted in Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate | No Comments »
12
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 12, 2007) John E. Franz, Ph.D., inventor of the toxic herbicide Roundup (active ingredient is glyphosate), is to be inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame, along with inventors of the MRI, the automotive airbag, vaccines, and various medicines. The honor is being awarded under the false claim that glyphosate is nontoxic. The 2007 class of inductees was announced at an event Thursday, February 8, on Capitol Hill, and the induction ceremony will take place on May 5 in Ohio. The statement released by the National Inventors Hall of Fame says of Dr. Franz: “In 1970, while working at Monsanto, Franz discovered the glyphosate class of herbicides, later marketed under the brand name Roundup ®. Glyphosate herbicides eliminate more than 125 kinds of weeds and are nontoxic to animals.” In fact, Roundup has been found to be harmful to animals and may pose a threat to humans as well. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the number one most commonly used pesticide in U.S. agriculture, and the second most commonly used in non-agricultural settings in the U.S. According to a Beyond Pesticides literature review (GATEWAY), glyphosate is linked to cancer, reproductive effects, neurotoxicity, kidney/liver damage, […]
Posted in Chemicals, Glyphosate | 2 Comments »
