{"id":20991,"date":"2017-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=20991"},"modified":"2017-11-22T10:28:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T14:28:43","slug":"monsanto-papers-redux-industry-suppression-regulatory-collusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2017\/08\/monsanto-papers-redux-industry-suppression-regulatory-collusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Monsanto Papers Redux: More on Industry Suppression and Regulatory Collusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides,<\/em> August 11, 2017)\u00a0On August 1, a second round of internal Monsanto documents<\/a> became public, stirring up additional questions and speculation about Monsanto\u2019s potential malfeasance \u2014 i.e., \"\"its efforts to hide information about impacts of its popular glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup. This follows on the heels of the March 2017 unsealing, by federal judge Vince Chhabria, of internal Monsanto documents \u2014 the \u201cMonsanto Papers<\/a>\u201d \u2014 that evidenced questionable research practices by the company, inappropriate ties to a top EPA official, and possible \u201cghostwriting\u201d of purportedly \u201cindependent\u201d research studies.<\/p>\n

This latest release, of more than 700 documents, came courtesy of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, one of many law firms representing thousands of families who claim that exposure to Roundup caused non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), a blood cancer, in their loved ones. Such litigation has been triggered, in part, by the 2015 finding<\/a> of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (a branch of the U.N.\u2019s World Health Organization) that glyphosate is \u201cprobably carcinogenic to humans.\u201d The plaintiffs allege<\/a> that the combination of glyphosate and surfactants used in Monsanto\u2019s Roundup products is even more toxic than glyphosate alone, and that Monsanto has sought to cover up that information. Monsanto has continued to deny publicly any connections between glyphosate, or its Roundup product, and cancer.<\/p>\n

Monsanto has in fact aggressively defended glyphosate, and has fought to keep such records, garnered in the discovery phases of various litigation efforts, sealed and away from the public eye. Indeed, of this August 1 release, Monsanto says that, although \u201cthe horse is now out of the barn,\u201d the litigants acted outside of a standing order of confidentiality, and the company will seek penalties on the law firm. Monsanto is known for A partner at the firm contradicts Monsanto\u2019s claim, insisting that the company made a mistake in its failure to file a required motion \u201cto seek continued protection\u201d of the documents. Monsanto maintains that no such filing of motion was necessary.<\/p>\n

This \u201cdump\u201d adds to the compendium of documents not only from the March unsealing, but also, in the vast collection that has come to be called \u201cThe Poison Papers.\u201d A project of The\u00a0Bioscience Resource Project (BRP)\u00a0and the\u00a0Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), The Poison Papers<\/a> make publicly available more than 20,000 documents obtained through legal discovery in lawsuits against Dow, Monsanto, the EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Air Force, and pulp and paper companies, among others. These papers were amassed largely by author and activist Carol Van Strum, who kept them in her rural Oregon barn for decades. BRP and CMD describe their project: \u201cThe Poison Papers represent a vast trove of rediscovered chemical industry and regulatory agency documents and correspondence stretching back to the 1920s.\u00a0Taken as a whole, the papers show that both industry and regulators understood the extraordinary toxicity of many chemical products and worked together to conceal this information from the public and the press.\u201d In addition, the Poison Papers are just one part of the larger DocumentCloud<\/a>, which contains over a million documents.<\/p>\n

Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman indicated<\/a> that it released the documents at this moment because \u201cthey not only pertain to the ongoing litigation, but also, to larger issues of public health and safety, while shedding light on corporate influence over regulatory bodies.\u201d The firm\u2019s Brent Wisner said, \u201cThis is a look behind the curtain. . . . These [documents] show that Monsanto has deliberately been stopping studies that look bad for them, ghostwriting literature, and engaging in a whole host of corporate malfeasance. They [Monsanto] have been telling everybody that these products are safe because regulators have said they are safe, but it turns out that Monsanto has been in bed with U.S. regulators while misleading European regulators.\u201d The firm also sent copies of the documents to authorities in Europe, EPA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General, and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which Monsanto has sued for listing glyphosate as a known carcinogen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite industry\u2019s protest, the dangers of glyphosate-based herbicides continue to be of great concern. Monsanto\u2019s representations about the safety of the compound are belied by contents of the newly released documents, which reveal internal conversations about Roundup\u2019s safety. One Monsanto scientist wrote<\/a>, in an internal email, \u201cIf somebody came to me and said they wanted to test Roundup I know how I would react \u2014 with serious concern.\u201d A Monsanto executive said, in a 2003 email<\/a>, \u201cYou cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen . . . \u00a0we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.\u201d And in 2002, another executive said,<\/a> \u201cWhat I\u2019ve been hearing from you is that . . . glyphosate is OK, but the formulated product [and thus the surfactant] does the damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond Pesticides continues to call for an end to glyphosate use and urges EPA to suspend its uses, while advising consumers to take steps to protect themselves and the environment from exposure to this harmful chemical. As the most widely used herbicide in the world, individuals are regularly exposed to glyphosate through contaminated food, in their work lives, and through its use on lawns and landscapes, whether by individuals themselves or through proximity to those who use it. Its antibiotic properties<\/a> cause damage to both human gut and soil microbiota.<\/p>\n

There are multiple ways to protect yourself, your family, and the environment<\/a> from glyphosate and other toxic pesticides, among which are:<\/p>\n