[Pollinator] Roundup

[Ladadams at aol.com]

April  25 (Reuters) - Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, 
Roundup, could  be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including 
Parkinson's,  infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The  peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal 
Entropy,  said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief 
ingredient in  Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of 
crops, has been  found in food.

Those  residues enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical 
residues and  toxins in the environment to disrupt normal body functions and 
induce disease,  according to the report, authored by Stephanie Seneff, a 
research scientist at  the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Anthony 
Samsel, a retired science  consultant from Arthur D. Little, Inc. Samsel is 
a former private environmental  government contractor as well as a member of 
the Union of Concerned  Scientists.

"Negative  impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time 
as inflammation  damages cellular systems throughout the body," the study 
says.

We  "have hit upon something very important that needs to be taken 
seriously and  further investigated," Seneff said.

Environmentalists,  consumer groups and plant scientists from several 
countries have warned that  heavy use of glyphosate is causing problems for 
plants, people and  animals.

The  EPA is conducting a standard registration review of glyphosate and has 
set a  deadline of 2015 for determining if glyphosate use should be 
limited. The study  is among many comments submitted to the agency.

Monsanto  is the developer of both Roundup herbicide and a suite of crops 
that are  genetically altered to withstand being sprayed with the Roundup 
weed  killer.

These  biotech crops, including corn, soybeans, canola and sugarbeets, are 
planted on  millions of acres in the United States annually. Farmers like 
them because they  can spray Roundup weed killer directly on the crops to kill 
weeds in the fields  without harming the crops.

Roundup  is also popularly used on lawns, gardens and golf courses.

Monsanto  and other leading industry experts have said for years that 
glyphosate is proven  safe, and has a less damaging impact on the environment 
than other commonly used  chemicals.

Jerry  Steiner, Monsanto's executive vice president of sustainability, 
reiterated that  in a recent interview when questioned about the study.

"We  are very confident in the long track record that glyphosate has. It 
has been  very, very extensively studied," he said.

Of  the more than two dozen top herbicides on the market, glyphosate is the 
most  popular. In 2007, as much as 185 million pounds of glyphosate was 
used by U.S.  farmers, double the amount used six years ago, according to 
Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA) data.
 
Laurie Davies  Adams
Executive Director
Pollinator Partnership
423 Washington St.  5th Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94111
T: 415.362.1137
F: 415.362.0176

Follow up on _Twitter_ (http://twitter.com/#!/Pollinators)  and _Facebook_ 
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