All You Need To Know About RoundUp (Glyphosate)

Presented below are ten sobering facts about Glyphosate (the key ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp weedkiller, which the majority of Monsanto’s seeds are genetically engineered to withstand):

1) Glyphosate causes disease and biological / physiological disorders in crops

Fifteen years of research by the USDA indicates that the chemical glyphosate, the key ingredient in RoundUp herbicide, is linked to fungal root disease in plants.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/13/us-usa-gmos-regulators

idUSTRE63C2AJ20100413
Purdue Report about biological/physiological disorders: http://www.btny.purdue.edu/weedscience/2011/GlyphosatesImpact11.html

2) Glyphosate is no longer effective at killing weeds

Article about Superweeds: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/energy-environment/04weed.html
International Database on Glycines (Glyphosate family): http://www.weedscience.com/summary/MOA.aspx?MOAID=12
Iowa State: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2011/0120hartzler.htm
University of Arkansas: http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/test_cses2012/1946.php
National Academy of Sciences Report: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12804

3) Glyphosate use is increasing steadily

According to the USGS, more than 88,000 tons of glyphosate were used in the United States in 2007, up from 11,000 tons in 1992. Since the advent of “super weeds,” the use of glyphosate (and other even stronger weed killers) has risen significantly.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/31/us-glyphosate-pollution-idUSTRE77U61720110831

4) Glyphosate is not breaking down as promised

In 1996, New York’s attorney general sued Monsanto over the company’s use of “false and misleading advertising” about RoundUp. That case ended with Monsanto agreeing to stop calling Roundup “biodegradable,” and to pull ads claiming that Roundup was “safer than table salt,” “practically nontoxic,” and ”stayed where you put it.”

Two decades after the advent of “RoundUp Ready” crops and their dominance in the agricultural marketplace, the evidence of their falsehoods abound: multiple studies have found significant levels of glyphosate in streams, soil, air, rainwater, and groundwater:

Wastewater: http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/glyphosate_wastewater.html
Rain and Streams: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2909
Groundwater: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22101424
Soil: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/124999079/Effects-of-Glyphosate-and-Foliar-Amendments-on-Soil-Microorganisms
Atmosphere, Soil and Surface Water: http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/6444.pdf
Mississippi and Iowa Streams: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2009AM/finalprogram/abstract_162346.htm

Glyphosate residues are also found in our food: a  recent study found that Glyphosate residues in the main foods of the Western diet – sugar, wheat, and genetically modified corn and soy – inhibit critical enzymes in mammals [which] manifests slowly over time, as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body. 
Source: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

No surprise, a study done in Germany in 2012 found glyphosate in all of the urine samples it took from non-agricultural workers in Berlin, at levels 5-20 times the limit for drinking water. Source: http://www.ithaka-journal.net/herbizide-im-urin?lang=en

In June 2013, another study found traces of glyphosate in the urine samples of individuals across 18 countries in Europe. Summary:  http://gmoevidence.com/dr-hans-wolfgang-hoppe-glyphosate-found-in-human-urine-across-europe/  
Original Study Report: http://gmoevidence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/glyphosate_studyresults_june12.pdf

5) Glyphosate causes birth defects, tumors, and reproductive disorders in animals, as well as sharp declines in beneficial insects

And often at dilutions far lower than the concentrations used in agricultural and even home garden spraying…

Study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20695457
Study: http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946
Study: http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/2012/09/.pdf
Study: http://www.mlmp.org.pdf
Study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23820267
Study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/abstract

A June 2011 report assembled by an international team of scientists revealed that studies done as early as the 1980s by biotech and ag-industry corporations (including Monsanto) all showed that Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate causes birth defects in laboratory animals… again, at very low exposures.

6) Glyphosate is a genotoxic endocrine disruptor to human cells and gut bacteria

Human Cells: http://www.barnstablecounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/gasnier-toxicology-elsevier-262-184-191-glyphostae-ed-human-cell-lines2.pdf

Gut Bacteria: our gut bacteria was recently discovered to contain the very same metabolic pathway in plants that is being targeted and disrupted by Glyphosate—in direct opposition to Monsanto’s claims that the human body did not contain this pathway: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416
Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp weedkiller, along with other “inert” ingredients that are potentially even more dangerous. Use vinegar instead!

Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp weedkiller, along with other “inert” ingredients that are potentially even more dangerous. Use vinegar instead!

7) Glyphosate is linked to cancer

Three studies have linked glyphosate exposure with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma:

2001: http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/10/11/1155.long
2002: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12148884
2003: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1740618/

8) Glyphosate causes DNA damage

Inhalation of glyphosate was observed to cause DNA damage after short exposure to concentrations that correspond to the 450-fold dilution of spraying most commonly used in agriculture:

Study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22331240

9) The EPA is still working on Glyphosate’s human risk assessment

Although the EPA has found the time to establish a National Acceptable Daily Intake of glyphosate (5.5% per day; as cited in the study done on pregnant women), long-term human risk assessment studies are slow to emerge.

Glyphosate Detected in Pregnant Women: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22261298
EPA Study Outline and Schedule: http://pesticidetruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Reference-glyphosate-2009-12-00-Final-Work-Plan-EPA.pdf

10) Glyphosate resistance is the primary purpose of genetic crop engineering

GM crops have been responsible for a 527 million pound increase in herbicide use in the United States over the first 16 years of commercial use of GM crops (1996 – 2011).

Article in Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/02/us-usa-study-pesticides-idUSBRE89100X20121002
Article compiling facts researched by Nature Magazine: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/01/the-rise-of-genetically-modified-crops-in-two-charts/

Main source for this article : GMO Awareness

For those who want as many scientific references, peer-reviewed studies, and reports as possible…

Why Glyphosate Should be Banned
A Review of its Hazards to Health and the Environment
Sirinathsinghji, E., Ho, Mae-Wan
Overview: http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/01/why-glyphosate-should-be-banned-a-review-of-its-hazards-to-health-and-the-environment/
Full Report (ISIS Members only): http://www.i-sis.org.uk/error/login_error.php?location=Why_Glyphosate_Should_be_Banned.php
Glyphosate Fact Sheet from Beyond Pesticides
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Glyphosate.pdf
Glyphosate Fact Sheet from Pesticide.org
http://www.pesticide.org/get-the-facts/pesticide-factsheets/factsheets/glyphosate
Glyphosate Fact Sheet from Mindfully.Org
http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Roundup-Glyphosate-Factsheet-Cox.htm
Glyphosate Toxicology
Caroline Cox. Journal of Pesticide Reform, Volume 15, Number 3, Fall 1995. Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Eugene, OR.