Glyphosate is bad for you, even at exposure levels hitherto believed to be ‘safe’. The latest study published in ‘Environmental Health’ precedes by a few days the go-ahead for the second lawsuit for damages in a U.S. court, for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that occurred to a regular user of Roundup.
In the USA and Canada as in Europe – where Bayer-Monsanto’s funding of the center political group ALDE (Alliance for Liberal and Democrats in Europe) – meanwhile, the venomous spraying continues. sine cura. Across the Atlantic also in the post-harvest stage to desiccate grains and legumes in adverse weather conditions.
Glyphosate, endocrine disruption even at doses hitherto believed ‘safe’
The development of the reproductive system may be compromised by exposure to glyphosate even at doses hitherto considered safe. Not only that. Commercial formulations, such as the well-known Roundup, reveal higher toxicity profiles than the active ingredient in its pure state. This is the finding of the new scientific study, coordinated by the Ramazzini Institute and published in the scientific journal ‘Environmental Health. (1) The University of Bologna, San Martino Hospital in Genoa, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, the University of Copenhagen, The Federal University of Parana, the ‘Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai‘ in New York and George Washington University participated in the study.
From prenatal to adulthood, GBHs(Glyphosate Based Herbicides) have ‘induced endocrine effects and altered parameters of reproductive development,’ explains Professor Melissa J. Perry of George Washington University, ‘at doses comparable to those to which people are exposed in their everyday living environment, including through the food they consume. The results of this study demonstrate an important impact on hormone production that should not be ignored. This study will provide valuable information for clearer human health risk assessment’. (2)
Prof. Alberto Mantovani of ISS, an internationally renowned toxicologist, addresses the ‘greater finding of endocrine and developmental effects in the commercial glyphosate formulation than in an equivalent dose of pure glyphosate. Indications that other components in commercial formulations may significantly increase the toxicity of glyphosate certainly warrant further investigation’. Previous studies had already shown the association of the herbicide with various adverse affects, including alteration of the microbiome during development and before puberty.
Scientific risk assessment, the studies needed
A campaign of
crowdfunding
was initiated to fund a comprehensive scientific study regarding the long-term human health effects of glyphosate and GBHs. (3) The goal of budget is ambitious (5 million euros) and there will be no shortage of study material, as 8.6 million tons of GBHs have been released into the environment since 1974. Consumption has increased 15-fold since the introduction of GMO seeds whose spread-as shown in the free ebook ‘
‘GMOs the Big Scam
‘ – has served precisely to boost pesticide sales.
The market for
agrotoxics
, globally, is indeed three times as valuable as the seed market, with far higher margins than just on the
Roundup
Are double or triple that of other products. And it is similarly dominated by four monopolists. The research will then serve to identify the damage that glyphosate has already caused and will continue to cause on ecosystems and public health due to its leaching into surface and groundwater. In view of its desirable planet-wide ban on use, to be followed by a more careful assessment of the risks associated with the new broad-spectrum pesticides that will succeed it. Such as dicamba, whose respective GMOs ‘
herbicide-resistant
‘ have already been approved in the EU as well. (4)
Independent studies and transparency are being clamored for by civil society. (4) ‘Full discovery‘, the making available to the public of all acts considered in Efsa(European Food Safety Authority) evaluation procedures, is required. An important signal in this regard came from the EU General Court, which on 7.3.19 annulled decisions by which Efsa had denied access to studies on carcinogenicity and toxicity of glyphosate. (5)
In recent weeks, among other things, it was decided to transfer the investigation to an Assessment Group on Glyphosate(AGG) composed of France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden. By subtracting them from Germany, hitherto delegated to its examination. (6)
Bayer-Monsanto, green light in U.S. for second non-Hodgkins lymphoma injury lawsuit
Bayer shares recorded the steepest drop in 16 years on a trading day. 8 billion, 12.5 percent of the share capital, was burned in a single day. Following the go-ahead, on 19.3.19, for the second damage suit in the District Court ‘North California‘. And once again – as in the first case, which led to Bayer-Monsanto’s first exemplary conviction (US$289 million, reduced on appeal to US$78) by the same court – the injured party is a professional user of Roundup who contracted the lnon-Hodgkin’s infoma.
The unanimous verdict of the 6 members of the jury, at the outcome of the first hearing, recognizes the admissibility of the compensatory action. ‘Mr. Hardeman has proven by preponderant evidence that his exposure to glyphosate is a substantial factor in the causation of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.’ (7) The next hearing will be worth ascertaining the actual liability of the world’s leading producer of the most widely used pesticide. And decide on the amount of compensation, on the basis of which the German giant may also decide to enter into negotiations with a view to the possible conciliatory solution(Alternative Dispute Resolution) of at least some of the cases that will follow.
The model of
business
of the agrotoxics supply chain is beginning to show the ropes. Pesticides sicken the planet but so do its poisoners. So much so that Bayer, in the few months since its acquisition of Monsanto (in June 2018), has lost 36 percent of its share value. There are about 11,200 lawsuits filed to date and still pending in the United States alone. And many more may follow, on every continent, affirming the universal principles of law that ‘the polluter pays’ and ‘the sick pay.’ (8)
#Égalité!
Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini
Notes
(1) Fabiana Manservisi, Corina Lesseur, Simona Panzacchi, Daniele Mandrioli, Laura Falcioni, Luciano Bua, Marco Manservigi, Marcella Spinaci, Giovanna Galeati, Alberto Mantovani, Stefano Lorenzetti, Rossella Miglio, Anderson Martino Andrade, David Møbjerg Kristensen, Melissa J. Perry, Shanna H. Swan, Jia Chen, Fiorella Belpoggi’ (2019). The Ramazzini Institute 13-week pilot study glyphosate-based herbicides administered at human-equivalent dose to Sprague Dawley rats: effects on development and endocrine system‘. Environmental Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0453-y
(2) See Ramazzini Institute press release, 12.3.19,
(3) Initiative of
crowdfunding
for research on glyphosate and GBHs, at
https://glyphosatestudy.org/
(4) See previous article ‘
Glyphosate increases risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, new study finds
‘,
(5) EU General Court, Cases T-716/14 Anthony C. Tweedale v. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and T-329/17 Hautala and Others v. EFSA, judgment 7.3.19,
(6) V. ‘
European Commission – Current status of glyphosate in the EU.
‘
(7) US District Court, Northern District of California, Edward Hardeman vs. Monsanto Company. Records of the 19.3.19 hearing at https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2019/03/Trial-Transcript-The-Verdict-March-19-2019.pdf
(8) At least 3 million families in Vietnam still await compensation for damages caused by Agent Orange, a Made-in-U.S. herbicide used as a chemical weapon between 1962 and 1971. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/monsanto-il-vietnam-annuncia-richiesta-di-risarcimento
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Journalist. Consumption, rights, nutrition, social, environment. Head of Consumers Help. She collaborated with ResetDOC, Il Riformista, La Nuova Ecologia, IMGPress.
