Senior Scientist, Environmental Working Group (EWG)
“… a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment …”
“It’s not surprising that many nail polishes contain potentially toxic chemicals. Now a study conducted by researchers at Duke University and EWG finds that at least one of those chemicals could be ending up in your body.
Triphenyl phosphate, or TPHP, a suspected endocrine-disrupting chemical, is commonly used to make plastics and as a fire retardant in foam furniture. And if you wear nail polish, it could be in your body too.
Researchers at Duke University tested the urine of 26 women …”
Remember, the effects of these tiny amounts of chemicals may not show up in your health for many years. The accumulation is slow … but sure. Read a book called ‘The Politics of Cancer’ by Dr Samuel Epstein written long ago, in the 1970s in fact. Yes, it was known way back then that environmental factors played a large part in our vulnerability to cancer but the health industry continues to act mystified and carries on asking for your donations to research endlessly for cures. There are in fact many cancer fighting protocols that have been successful but you are never going to hear about them in mainstream media. Do some research … there is plenty of information out there now … on the internet that is. And, additionally, there are alternative products you can buy … without the toxic additives … they may cost a little more, like organic food, however you will save in medical bills later.
Think that the label that says “organically grown” has anything to do with the packaging, storage, and transport of that product to stores?
What if I told you that cow, pig, and chicken collagen is now used in place of wax on your fruits and vegetables, among many other things much worse than you can probably imagine?
And what if then I told you, as with most atrocities that happen now-a-days, that this is all approved by the FDA…
Since the early 12th century, there has been a tradition of applying wax onto the skins of fruits and vegetables for longer storage life. Today, that tradition is being carried on with a whole new generation of chemicals and compounds that are genetically designed to accomplish the same goal. But in these modern times, the health and well-being of the consumer of that apple is not…
From Ty Bollinger of GreenMedinfo at The Truth About Cancer website:
“Not the scientific and medical terms used to describe the disease but general knowledge about the #2 killer in the United States. It’s incredible that there is so much information online about cancer – available with a few simple keystrokes – but how much do you really know?
There are so many forms of cancer, every patient case is unique, and you will never know everything (though that would be fantastic). It can be overwhelming….
Researchers worldwide agree that at least half of all cancers and cancer-related deaths are preventable. In 2015, an estimated 1.6 million deaths will be attributed to cancer – saving half with prevention is an excellent place to start.
Cancer is the single name assigned to more than 100 diseases. Though cancer was once referred to as a “wasting disease,” it is actually the result of abnormal cells that multiply and spread out of control to various points in your body, damaging healthy cells along the way. Most types of cancer result in tumors but cancers that affect the blood do not…”
Any moves to tighten the controls on the liberal use of carcinogenic herbicides/pesticides, especially in public places, is a good move, and labeling products as potentially carcinogenic is definitely a move in the right direction.
“Monsanto may be in for a big surprise, courtesy of the EPA California state. The EPA’s environmental health hazard assessment office out of California has announced a move to label the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide ‘Roundup’ (and four others) as “known to cause cancer….
“The EPA’s office of environmental health hazard assessment in California wants to label four chemicals, including the most popular herbicide and key ingredient of Monsanto’s Roundrup, glyphosate, as “known to cause cancer,” following the most recent WHO cancer research division’s report.”
From Ecowatch: When you drink a glass of water, you expect it to be clean and pure, not contaminated with invisible toxic chemicals. But nationwide testing has found that 6.5 million Americans in 27 states are drinking water tainted by an industrial compound that was used for decades to make Teflon. The chemical, known as PFOA, has been detected in 94 public water systems. The amounts are small, but new research indicates that it can be hazardous even at the tiniest doses. PFOA and closely related fluorinated chemicals—including PFOS, once used to make Scotchgard—can cause cancer, birth defects and heart disease and weaken the immune system….
A couple of years ago I came across a book in a garage sale called ‘Circle of Poison’. Published in 1981 it documents a trail of intriguing scandal regarding the export of banned pesticides from industrial countries to the third world. Products banned in the US saw the sellers simply exporting the separate ingredients to be assembled offshore for sale to unsuspecting customers oblivious to the products’ banned status. Many of these products were then duly sprayed on produce that would be returned to the country of the original banning. ‘Banning problem solved’ as it were. One of the authors David Weir describes how he came upon this scheme. Following a ban in the US of cyclamates, he discovered the ingredient in a packet of Kool-Aid he purchased whilst in Afghanistan. This began his trail of inquiries back in the 1970s which eventually led to an article in the US magazine, Mother Jones in 1979 entitled ‘The Corporate Crime of the Century’ and eventually to the book Circle of Poison. It was found that not only were toxic ingredients being exported, but defective medical devices, lethal drugs, known carcinogens, contaminated foods and other products deemed unsafe for American consumption as well. The results of this dumping are horrific.
“400 Iraqis died in 1972 and 5,000 were hospitalized after consuming the by-products of 8,000 tons of wheat and barley coated with an organic mercury fungicide, whose use had been banned in the U.S.
No one knows how many children may develop cancer since several million children’s garments treated with a carcinogenic fire retardant called Tris were shipped overseas after being forced off the domestic market by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)”. (from Mother Jones … more examples in the article)
Lomotil, an effective prescription-only anti-diarrhea medicine sold in the U.S., fatal in amounts just slightly over the recommended doses, was sold over the counter in Sudan, advertised as a product that was used by astronauts during the Gemini and Apollo space flights and also recommended for use by children as young as 12 months. Another item was Depo Provera, a birth control injection. This was banned in the United States because it caused malignant tumors in beagles and monkeys, yet is sold by the Upjohn Co. in 70 other countries, where it is widely used in U.S.-sponsored population control programs. It is currently also prescribed by GPs in New Zealand. Watch for an article on this product. I intend to research it soon. And the dumping of unwanted stuff is still going on by all appearances. More on that in another post. It does illustrate perfectly the utter disregard corporations hold for the health of the public. Again their bottom line is profits.
Here is the Mother Jones Article:
The Corporate Crime of the Century
It’s called dumping: When the U.S. government forces a dangerous drug, pesticide or other product off the domestic market, the manufacturer then sells that same product—frequently with the direct support of the State Department—throughout the rest of the world.
Tom Mboya was the hope of the western world. Bright, energetic, popular and inclined to be democratic—he was a born leader who, Washington hoped, would rise to power in Kenya and help keep Africa safe for United States commerce. In 1969 he was shot down in the streets of Nairobi. An emergency rescue squad was by his side in minutes. They plugged him into the latest gadget in resuscitative technology—a brand new U.S. export called the Res-Q-Aire. What the rescue team didn’t know as they watched Tom Mboya’s life slip away was that this marvelous device had been recalled from the American market by the US government because it was found to be totally ineffective. The patient died….Read More Here
Are councils in bed with Agrichemical companies? Both the Auckland & Rangitikei District Council are favouring chemical weed control over non-chemical, in spite of the heightened health risks highlighted recently by WHO. They cite outdated & incorrect data to support this preference.
Some Aucklanders are currently objecting to a flip flop on their Council’s current weed management policies. A petition has been circulating (and is on FB also if you would like to sign it) calling (like the Rangitikei) for a ban on the use of glyphosate on Auckland’s streets and parks. Some parts of Auckland are chemical free in terms of weed management however not all, and council is doing a u turn on their current policy of minimal chemical use, indicating in their Ten Year Plan a preference for chemical control.
Public areas are sprayed without any warning before, during or after the fact
Auckland’s Weed Management Advisory (a Community-led organization that helped create the Council’s Weed Management Policy 2013 of minimum agrichemical use, which the Council seems intent on doing away with) are also calling for a BAN on Glyphosate and have put a leaked briefing document up on their website. You can read it here. This is the Long Term Plan featuring quotes for alternative methods of weed management as opposed to management with glyphosate, typically, Roundup. Georgina Blackmore, the petition organizer, states that the figures cited should be taken with a pinch of salt … in fact a very large amount of salt. They are using she says, old, inaccurate and misleading information. “Disingenuous” says Auckland councilor John Watson. The Weed Management Advisory has accused the Auckland Council of putting the public at risk. Read their press statement here.
This line is a very familiar tale. Our own Rangitikei District Council cited inaccurate figures when justifying their rejection of glyphosate-free weed management in our public spaces. We had tried to counter this outcome by citing Auckland contractors who are currently employing mechanical weed control methods. The latter stated emphatically that their costs were a marginal 10-15 percent more than Roundup, and expected soon to even match it. Similarly, with the current Auckland scenario cited here, other Auckland contractors are saying their costs are even less than glyphosate.
When the request for tighter parameters and controls around glyphosate spraying was originally put to the RDC, citing the extensive independent research available on the myriad health risks associated with Roundup use, an internal report was requested by RDC on alternative cost-effective weed-control methods. Councilor Lyn Sheridan asked why health effects were not investigated by RDC and the response by CEO Ross McNeill was, ‘…they weren’t asked for’. They are missing the point here.
We need to be asking, why are Councils so bent on, so adamant, about choosing chemical control, and with a chemical that has recently been re-classified by WHO as a Class 2A carcinogen? Claiming there is insufficient proof of health risks is myopic at best.
That statistic is extremely high and surely deserving of closer examination of the research into environmental causes and the elimination of the probable ones?
Walkways and adjacent herbage where both school children & general public regularly walk is sprayed heavily with Roundup/glyphosate
The thing about Roundup is (and you will hear this in the audio link below) we the public are given no warning in advance of spraying, no signs are put out when they are spraying (so people can walk on it before it’s dry without even knowing) it is sprayed on public walkways where school children walk with no prior warning and it is sometimes sprayed on windy days.
Read Georgina’s piece here on her recent findings and her interview on Radio with Auckland Councilor John Watson and Professor Ian Shaw from Canterbury University.
“In an interview I gave on bFM this week about our campaign to ban the use of Glyphosate on Auckland Roads and Parks, Councillor John Watson and expert of Toxicology Professor Ian Shaw both agreed that we need to be seriously looking at what alternatives we have to spraying Glyphosate…” Read at SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/BanGlyphosate/posts/417049618496545
Around a decade ago I began to notice, just by reading labels, that there were many ‘unknowns’ in our personal care products. Then once connected to the internet I began to research in earnest and came upon the Environmental Working Group, an excellent site for checking out suspect chemicals.
The amounts of these chemicals placed in our products are tiny, however they are products we tend to use virtually daily … shampoos, skin care products, household cleaners etc so we cannot over estimate the cumulative effect the chemicals have. And, worse, many of the ingredients are either known or suspected carcinogens. There are also chemicals which, when mixed with others become carcinogenic. Our skin is very absorbent so these chemicals go straight into our bloodstreams. An excellent expose of this scenario is the film ‘The Idiot Cycle’ found on the ‘Chemicals’ page on this site.
Dr Samuel Epstein wrote a book in the 1970s called ‘The Politics of Cancer’. He clearly describes the effects of these chemicals and points out that they are known environmental causes of cancer that folks, including the companies, refuse to seriously acknowledge. As I say frequently here, corporations do lie at times, they do have legal person hood, however they are not like real human beings. If you do doubt this please watch The Corporation film or read the info at the page in the link. It explains all.
Protect yourself and research the ingredients and don’t believe everything the packaging tells you. The claim to ‘organic’, ‘healthy’ and so on on the label guarantees you nothing unless it is legally certified. Companies are now bandying those labels around to look good but the advertising is often deceptive.
It is phasing out the use of controversial pesticide glyphosate – the active ingredient in Round Up – and introducing natural ways to control weeds, even though regulators from the State Government and CSIRO do not require them to.
Parks manager Mark Presswell says council is concerned that research has shown glyphosate is a health hazard and harmful to the environment….”
The Chronicle is reporting on the leachate. There have been more discussions regarding the ongoing treatment of this toxic runoff: “Leachate from the Bonny Glen landfill may soon be treated on site rather than, or before, being dumped into the Marton wastewater treatment plant…”
We heard on June 12th that: “…it would still be a few months before a solution would be finalised concerning leachate…” and that ” Bonny Glen manager Paul Mullinger … was taking the issue “very seriously”. They are “… considering some sort of on-site treatment and did not view the issue as insurmountable”… and Deputy Mayor Dean McManaway says “It’s important we keep chipping away and not let this rest.”
Note the operative words here: “may … few months … considering … chipping away”.
It is interesting that on one side of the table, the company that managed to secure a nice loose ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to dump the toxic leachate in the first place, and contaminate our local stream to the extent RDC and Horizons seem unwilling to conduct ongoing in-stream biota surveys, concealing just how loose that agreement was … and on the other side that same company managed to effectively exclude all discussion of leachate, truck nuisance and landfill pests from the hearings altogether. And now it’s all go ahead with the consents safely in hand, still we’re required to ‘chip away’ at things. Some of us are not fooled by all this drag-the-chain rhetoric.
In the meantime, as the latest Chronicle article points out, the waste water treatment plant is still non-compliant.
“While more rubbish is set to pour into soon-to-expand Bonny Glen Landfill, the Rangitikei District’s water and roading will not be trashed.
The Rangitikei District Council assets and infrastructure committee heard on Thursday it would still be a few months before a solution would be finalised concerning leachate from Bonny Glen.
Leachate causes a problem for the Marton Wastewater Treatment Plant….
Bonny Glen manager Paul Mullinger …. was taking the issue “very seriously”….Cr Dean McManaway said it was good to see this was a priority. “It’s important we keep chipping away and not let this rest.” “
Watch this space … leachate ’causes a problem’ is quite an understatement … witness seven years of regular non compliance which RDC has failed to address thus far in spite of it being highlighted by Marton’s Community Committee. RDC is ‘chipping away’ at this and … it will reportedly be several months before a solution is finalized.
Here’s hoping this will not be another of those delayed solutions that never quite materializes.
Some important truths here about Genetically Modified Organisms (from GMO Free USA) … and a reminder why we need to eliminate known and suspected carcinogens from our environments. As I repeat often on this site, cancer statistics are now one in three. That is far far too high, and the powers that be need to get serious about eliminating the KNOWN risks, as well as the suspected, instead of acting like cancer is a mystery. It’s not. Please read Dr Samuel Epstein’s book called ‘The Politics of Cancer’, or watch the excellent documentary called ‘The Idiot Cycle’ featured here two days ago. They are forever searching for cures whilst both ignoring and suppressing the existing cures, and failing to look at the causes, many of which have already been exposed by independent research. Folks are wising up however and seeking alternative help for themselves, as did the Northland man who used IV Vitamin C to cure his cancer (note this man had had all the chemo he could have and was sent home to die). To learn of the many cures that exist for cancer now see also on YouTube, Cancer is Curable Now and Every Cancer Can be Cured in Weeks, Dr. Leonard Coldwell. Additionally you can visit the website called The Truth About Cancer. There are some of their docos on YouTube plus they occasionally show online their whole series exposing how the medical industry switched its focus from holistic healing to treating symptoms with pharmaceuticals. These are excellent documentaries that feature qualified health professionals including oncologists.
Currently we have an online petition seeking to curtail or stop the spraying of glyphosate (Roundup) in our Rangitikei District’s public places. Glyphosate which is used liberally in our district was recently re classified by WHO as a Class 2A carcinogen, meaning it probably causes cancer. Our Council however continues to ignore the research and WHO’s announcement, whilst on the other hand, many countries are banning it. For further information on glyphosate please visit the Glyphosate page on this site. If you are from the Rangitikei or connected with it in any way, please consider signing the petition. It is surely wiser to eliminate all known and suspected carcinogens.
The causative factors around cancer are really no mystery … we just never hear about them in mainstream media. Read Dr Samuel Epstein’s book called ‘The Politics of Cancer’, quite an old book too. He points out the many environmental causes, and yet our system, the powers that be, call them what you will, act dumb almost and ask us to contribute to the endless sea of research that seems to go nowhere.
This documentary, ‘The Idiot Cycle’ will enlighten you.
More on glyphosate … another nation bans it. Since its reclassification by WHO to a class 2A carcinogen, many countries are moving to protect the public:
“Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena announced Friday that the import of the World’s most used herbicide glyphosate will be banned with immediate effect. The release of already imported stocks has also been stopped. Sirisena, a farmer and ex Health Minister, stated that glyphosate is responsible for the increasing number of chronic kidney disease (CKDu) patients in Sri Lanka and added that the move would protect the Sri Lankan farming community…”
From Natural Society … this article recapitulates the progress so far in terms of recent mounting evidence:
“It’s not just the WHO that has raised the alarm over Monsanto’s Roundup and its devastating effects on human and environmental health. Instead, the WHO announcement was simply the most widely reported on Roundup study that we have seen. Sadly, it’s not even the most concerning.
It was back in September of 2014 that the International Journal of Toxicology published a much more alarming piece on the dangers of Roundup entitled “Glyphosate Commercial Formulation Causes Cytotoxicity, Oxidative Effects, and Apoptosis on Human Cells: Differences With its Active Ingredient.” As you can gather from its name, the study highlighted the multitude of ways in which glyphosate is wreaking havoc on human cells…”
For Kiwis, remember, New Zealand is an avid user of Roundup and glyphosate. It is recommended in our Tertiary Agricultural textbooks, and touted as being completely harmless. Therefore it is sprayed liberally onto pastures and eaten by the stock headed for the market and our consumption. Hence it is found now in human urine, blood and breast milk. It is used by the keepers of our roads and public spaces in towns, by large contractors as well as small.
Educate yourself, read the data and spread the word. There are currently two petitions circulating in NZ, one for Auckland and one for the Rangitikei. I note that one may be coming for all of NZ, the better option really as it is at government level it needs addressing. Councils continue to repeat that glyphosate is government approved. In the meantime however, please consider signing the petitions and stop the ongoing poisoning of our future.
This case is shocking. As I recall, Johnson & Johnson was always a trusted brand. I spoke recently with some women in their senior years who all nodded at that name as being trusted. Trust unfortunately is a word that doesn’t feature so prominently nowadays. Corporations regularly fail in their promises it seems … and if you doubt this please watch the doco entitled ‘The Corporation’. You will find it here on the Corporations page. It will explain to you how this all happened … how a corporation functions … to whom its first loyalties are. Be aware, it is not you, the customer by any stretch of the imagination. And so here, we have a big corporation being ordered to pay $50 million to an injured child, when in the bigger picture, in light of the profits made, that sum of money is not all that large. And not compared to the suffering this child and her family have endured. As always with these sad and unfortunate stories, we need to be aware to read the very fine print and do our own private research on medications. The information is there but is seldom given to us unless requested.
“(NaturalNews) The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court’s judgment that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson should be required to pay $50 million to a girl who suffered a rare but devastating side effect from Children’s Motrin when she was seven years old. The judgment took more than a decade to be reached.
Samantha Reckis experienced toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which burned off 90 percent of her skin, destroyed 80 percent of her lung capacity and left her blind. Only luck and the efforts of her doctors prevented her from dying or suffering permanent brain damage…”
More damning evidence about glyphosate from the Natural News site.
“A class action lawsuit, (Case No: BC 578 942) was filed in Los Angeles County California and alleges that Monsanto is guilty of using false advertisement when they say the herbicide is harmless to humans….The lawsuit points out that glyphosate targets the EPSP synthase enzyme, which is found in human and animal intestines. If this enzyme is being wiped out over time, then humans and animals lose their ability to fight off disease. If the CDC is so concerned about the herd immunity of the human race, then why aren’t they taking a stand to stop the mass application of glyphosate?…”Because it kills off our gut bacteria, glyphosate is linked to stomach and bowel problems, indigestion, ulcers, colitis, gluten intolerance, sleeplessness, lethargy, depression, Crohn’s Disease, Celiac Disease, allergies, obesity, diabetes, infertility, liver disease, renal failure, autism, Alzheimer’s, endocrine disruption, and the W.H.O. recently announced glyphosate is ‘probably carcinogenic’.”
This is from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), and an important reminder we carefully scrutinize the labels on our food, but research the chemicals present in our cookware. Be warned…EnvirowatchRangitikei
This article is by By David Andrews, Senior Scientist and Bill Walker, Consultant.
POISONED LEGACY
Ten Years Later, Chemical Safety and Justice for DuPont’s Teflon Victims Remain Elusive
DuPont’s Dirty History
In 2005 the Environmental Protection Agency fined chemical giant DuPont a record $16.5 million over its decades-long cover-up of the health hazards of C8, also known as PFOA. One of a family of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, PFOA was a key ingredient in making Teflon, the non-stick, waterproof, stain-resistant “miracle of modern chemistry” used in thousands of household products….
DuPont had long known that PFOA caused cancer, had poisoned drinking water in the mid-Ohio River Valley and polluted the blood of people and animals worldwide.
It’s been 10 years since the EPA’s history-making judgment against DuPont and PFOA, but its victims are still seeking justice. DuPont has failed to clean up water supplies, is shirking its promise to monitor the health of the communities it poisoned and is gearing up to fight in court against paying damages to its victims. EWG – and the victims of DuPont
Read the article at EWG’s website & download pdf guide to avoiding PFCS:
Following on from the RDC meeting in late March 2015 where the topic of eliminating the spraying of glyphosate in urban Rangitikei’s public places was discussed following a report by Council into cost effective alternatives. If you missed part 1, read it HERE first.
The Outcome
Fast forward to the day of the meeting in March when the outcome was given. Council read out their report, embedded in the Order Paper [on page 26, Council Agenda 26 March 2015 electronic version.compressed (1)] which states, briefly, that a no spray register will be established so that those who wish to opt out can, and any areas thus opted out of will be kept weed free by that person. There was then some discussion around the issue and other possible options put forward. Cr Sheridan suggested that the no spray areas could be sprayed by the current contractor using a non chemical spray. Mayor, Andy Watson however, foresaw difficulties price-wise with that, potentially incurring more expense for ratepayers, so the idea was dropped. Cr Sheridan asked why the report had not addressed the initial health issues raised at the forum in November. CEO Ross McNeill responded that he had only been directed to research what alternative options other Councils used … not the health issues. More discussion ensued and Cr Ash tried to point out the recent findings by WHO and Canterbury University regarding health risks. She was promptly reminded that this was question time, not discussion time. Seconds later (still question time) another Cr expounded on the safety of glyphosate with nods of agreement all around.
So you will see here, the way Council operates, there is no room for discussion or dialogue, except by Council of course, amongst themselves, whilst you sit and listen only. There is no opportunity to correct any misconceptions, or to raise any other issues. Your five (rather four) minutes … is it. There ends your input.
Would it not have been pertinent to research the health issues which, after all, were the point of the whole exercise? It seems the RDC takes the three monkeys approach (if we don’t look at, hear or speak about the research then we won’t need to be concerned … even if it is by Doctors and Professors). By virtue of one very specific Mayoral direction here, the whole health issue is effectively sidelined. I feel this is a very lop sided way of interacting with the community … the very people who elect these representatives. You may or may not agree.
Two Other Questions Raised by Councillors
I should add here, in the mix of the discussion, two other questions were raised by other Crs. One was the cost of preparing the report, specifically … how many hours did it take [waste] in preparation? A very pointed question to which of course I was unable to respond in any way.
So here, a person is vilified for daring to raise health concerns for the public, health concerns the public are unaware of because, as has been established by France’s highest Court, the manufacturer has lied about its safety. Everybody believes it is safe.
It clearly isn’t.The other question was, ‘who else was concerned about this issue or was it just one person?’ [that would be me presumably].I was unable of course to respond to that either … had I been able to I could have said there were, as far as I knew, at least ten other persons anyway. Quite likely more but we shall see.
An UPDATE here: There are currently, as at 16 July 2015, 111 others who are concerned. If you happen to be concerned also, please sign the petition HERE. You could also ‘like’ our glyphosate FACEBOOK PAGE and stay informed with regular updates on this issue.
TO: THE RANGITIKEI DISTRICT MAYOR ANDY WATSON, AND CEO ROSS MCNEILL
We are calling on the Rangitikei District Mayor Andy Watson, and CEO Ross McNeill, to protect the public’s health by banning the use of the carcinogen glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, within the Rangitikei town limits. We want to see the Community housing grounds and parking areas, street verges, berms and roadsides, public parks and walkways designated chemical free zones.
Why is this important?
Recently glyphosate was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Class 2A carcinogen, meaning, it probably causes cancer.
In 2009 French Professor Séralini’s two year study on glyphosate found it produced large cancerous tumours in rats. Because its effects are cumulative and not immediate (that is they only show up over a long period of time) people generally think it is safe. Dr. Don Huber, an award-winning, international scientist, microbiologist and professor emeritus of plant pathology at Purdue University (US) who has 55+ years experience in research and expertise in the area of plant pathology, says that contrary to the common claim of safety, a large volume of peer-reviewed scientific information clearly demonstrates that Roundup herbicide is chronically toxic to human and animal tissues and leads to cancer, premature death, kidney and liver failure, blood disorders and a host of other diseases.
Glyphosate is many times more toxic than DDT, and there’s also a correlation between Glyphosate use & bee die off.
With our cancer statistics at one in three now and climbing, it is important we protect the public, particularly children, from exposure to this chemical. It is a product most Council contractors use in keeping both urban and rural public areas weed free. There are some Councils however that now use chemical free alternatives, one in particular is hot water and foam. Some of us have already requested of Rangitikei District Council that they consider a chemical free alternative, however they’ve declined, based on their own report that failed to look at the proven cost effectiveness of hot water and foam treatment which is almost equal in cost to chemical spraying.
Our environment has long been subject to frequent spraying of this toxic chemical and France’s highest Court ruled in 2009 that it is not biodegradable as advertised. It has now also been found present in human blood, urine and breast milk. With WHO’s damning conclusions we need to be taking responsibility for protecting our health and making our beautiful district healthy and environmentally friendly for all. The public spraying of this carcinogenic chemical is a violation of our human rights.
Help us make public areas in our Rangitikei towns both glyphosate and chemical free now.
Newly found chemicals in fracking wastewater lead to cancer
Published on Jan 19, 2015
From RT America which is the US based arm of RT, a 24-hour English-language international broadcast news network.http://rt.com/usa/
“University researchers have discovered two new pollutants in fracking wastewater that can have potentially devastating effects on waterways and those who depend on them. Professor Avner Vengosh identified both ammonium and iodide in samples taken by his team, which says that the two chemicals have never before been linked to the natural gas extraction process. Although not deadly by themselves, according to scientists, when combined with other substances used by the natural gas drilling industry, they become carcinogenic. Dr. Ken Carlson of Colorado State University explains the importance and of the findings to RT’s Ben Swann.”
On November 27th I presented to the Council Forum information (including credible research) regarding the need for some parameters around the spraying of chemical sprays in public places. Click on the documents to read:
Information presented to Council Forum on 27 Nov 2014
Of the twelve Councilors, two are interested in this issue. Clearly convincing people of the authenticity of the independentresearch is a hard sell. People will either not look at the research or they just don’t believe it … even the long term research of Scientists, Doctors and Professors in their respective fields … unmoved by the obvious conflict of interest that exists in Monsanto testing their own product. The product is not safe. Please read the expanded information on Professor Seralini’s two year long experiment on rats on the Glyphosate page. Monsanto tested their product prior to release for the required 90 days. Further to this, the following information offered by Dr Meriel Watts from Auckland (see PANANZ website & also link at the end) highlights quite explicitly the problem with the initial approval of glyphosate and Roundup. It follows a govt submission she has recently made regarding very high pesticide levels found in NZ’s baby food (800 times higher than the EU’s). She states that the testing of pesticide levels including Glyphosate, are industry funded, and therefore subject to a conflict of interests. I cite that info here:
1) No critical study in these vital toxicity assessment areas, that form the parameters used to approve our daily consumption, our RfDs / ADI’s, are ever supplied by an independent organisation like, say a university or public interest group.
2) Every animal study for glyphosate (the pesticide commonly known as Roundup) that the USA EPA and the WHO use to apply the ‘non-carcinogenic to humans’ rating, is sponsored and paid for by an agrichemical company.
3) The toxicity studies for glyphosate (Roundup) are all private, obtained directly from contracted laboratories that only work with industry – Product Safety Laboratories, Dow, ABC and Covance. They are unpublished and unavailable for review by public sector health representatives or individuals.
4) The very studies that provide the parameters that end up being residue levels, within toxicity assessment, are only ever supplied by the very organisations that require the toxicity assessment to be declared safe. In the case of glyphosate, the studies for proving non-carcinogenicity are only ever provided by Syngenta, Monsanto and Cheminova.
5) Furthermore, no study ever uses the stronger, more effective complete formulation of Roundup, (only the weaker active chemical glyphosate is used). And I believe this ‘policy’ has profound ramifications for our health.
This is precisely why the lack of parameters around spraying Glyphosate and any other chemical sprays concerns me.
“Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, which contains glyphosate was linked to fatal kidney disease back in the spring. In parts of Central America after an epidemic of fatal kidney disease Roundup was banned in El Salvador and Sri Lanka.
Now new study shows a strong link between glyphosate fetal deaths and birth defects. Monsanto continues to stand by its product calling it a ‘safe and effective herbicide,’ but as the evidence mounts it is becoming abundantly clear that Monsanto is doing all that it can to keep the public in the dark….”
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