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Roundup weed killer, used both on farms and in yards, has been linked to birth defects.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Environmental health, plant, and food experts have been sounding the alarm about health risks associated with the popular weed killer Roundup for years, saying it leads to hormone disruption and more than three dozen plant diseases. One study even found its main ingredient, glyphosate, killed human cells in the lab. A new report published this month also alleges that regulators and the pesticide industry have long known about the birth defect link—some for more than two decades—but kept the details hidden from the general public. While millions of pounds of Roundup are sprayed on food crops each year, many people still also freely spray Roundup in weedy areas of their lawn. It's been found in drinking water, and even inside our food.
THE DETAILS: A group of respected scientists published the report this month as the maker of Roundup, chemical company Monsanto, pushes the European Union to allow plantings of its genetically engineered seeds that rely on heavy Roundup sprayings (something that has been done in the United States for more than a decade). The authors allege that European government agencies and the European Commission, tasked with regulating chemicals, knew about birth defects associated with the product for years and, despite that, did not place stronger restrictions on the project. (Roundup is used in farming, but commonly as a home weed killer, too.)
At issue is the fact that Roundup seems to be exempt from regulators' taking a closer look at its health impacts. The European Union is set to adopt much stricter pesticide laws this summer; however, Roundup and more than three dozen other pesticides have received a free pass, and won't need to be reviewed until 2015. (Greenpeace and Pesticide Action Network are currently suing over this. The report authors say Roundup could actually ward off reviews until 2030.) "The beneficiary will be the pesticide industry; the victim will be public health," they write.
Pesticides strike again it
Pesticides strike again it seems! I'm writing some essays about healthy food now and this info going to be useful for me.
There is so much danger
There is so much danger dealing with roundup. You have to be very careful with it. I would definitely avoid it at all possible. There is many other options.
Christmas flowers
Bad news
Roundup IS a Pesticide!
I stand corrected. It always seemed to be defined as an insect toxin, but it's not.
Thanks.
Roundup IS a pesticide!
RileyJ, please look up the definition of pesticide before you say they are discrediting themselves. It is YOU who has been discredited.
Roundup falls under the pesticide subclass of herbicide because it kills plants. Chemicals that kill bugs are called insecticides. Chemicals that kill fungus is called fungicides and so on. But they are ALL considered PESTICIDES.
The FDA defines a pesticide as:
Pesticide means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal feedstuffs, or substances which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies. The term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit. Also used as substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage and transport.
From: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2002), International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. Article 2. Terms and definitions, Page 6
Roundup is NOT a Pesticide!
The evidence against the use of the HERBICIDE Roundup should be sufficient to get it banned. The stuff is bad news.
However, it is NOT A PESTICIDE! And any Roundup supporter can say Rodale doesn't know what they're talking about since they call it a pesticide. This type of misreporting discredits Rodale.