Author Archives: chemfree

“Genetically Modified Children” film exposes how Philip Morris and Monsanto have exploited impoverished farmers since 1966, when the Argentinian government authorized the use of GMO crops to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller
Tobacco farmers in Argentina are forced to use a multitude of dangerous agrochemicals in order to grow a crop that’s certifiable by U.S. tobacco company Philip Morris
An increasing number of children are being born with severe birth defects and deformities in Argentina
The film interviews Dr. Hugo Gomez Demaio and Dr. Mario Barrera, who are dedicated to highlighting and treating the link between agrochemicals and birth defects
The film features anti-agrochemical activist Sofia Gatica, who is renowned for her work in tracking abnormal rates of cancer, kidney disease and other ailments linked to aerial spraying of glyphosate on GMO soy crops

From Dr Merecola, August 25, 2018

You can view the full article and the horrifying film here.

SAN FRANCISCO: Today, a federal judge found sufficient evidence to move to trial hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Monsanto Co.’s glyphosate-containing weed-killer Roundup causes cancer.

More than 400 farmers, landscapers, and consumers, whose lawsuits have been consolidated before the Northern California federal district court in San Francisco, allege that Monsanto’s weed-killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cell cancer.

In response, Kara Cook-Schultz, U.S. PIRG’s Ban Roundup director, released this statement:

“Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most widely-used agricultural chemical in the U.S. Millions of people regularly use Roundup in their backyards, and it’s commonly sprayed on our food and in areas where kids play and learn, including public parks, school playgrounds and sports fields. In fact, the victim in one of the cases before the court, Dewayne Johnson, is a school groundskeeper.

“The plaintiffs in this case have shown the judge that the ingredients in Roundup carry a risk, and that there is enough evidence of that risk for the cases to go to trial. Victims deserve their day in court, so this is a major victory for hundreds of people who believe that Monsanto’s Roundup caused them to develop cancer.”

From WISPIRG, July 10, 2018

“For many years, Monsanto’s marketing on several Roundup products has claimed and continues to claim that glyphosate targets an enzyme not found “in people or pets.” But according to the Roundup class action lawsuit, this statement is “false, misleading, and deceptive, as the enzyme that glyphosate targets is found in people and pets — specifically, in beneficial gut bacteria…”

From Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman, Consumer Attorneys. Read the full article here.

As reported by the ABC on Saturday 11th August, the Cancer Council through its chief executive Professor Aranda, has responded weakly to the successful lawsuit in California which found that Monsanto’s Roundup was responsible for the Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma of school groundsman Dewayne Johnson. Johnson was awarded $389million in damages. She advised “anyone using them [the product] regularly to take precautions, such as masks and protective clothing… The work health and safety aspects of these kinds of exposures aren’t quite as tight as we’d like them to be”.

Dr Ian Musgrave, a pharmacologist at Adelaide University, who has defended glyphosate for some years (eg here and here) continued to do so: “those concerned about the cancer link were ‘somewhat exaggerating the evidence’ “.

More realistically, “Public liability lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, Dimi Ioannou, said the findings of the US case would make glyphosate ‘a long-standing issue’. Ms Ioannou said if the effects of glyphosate ever matched something like asbestos, it could lead to thousands of compensation claims in future.”

You can read the full ABC report here.

GMWatch reports that “The UK’s biggest DIY chains have announced they are reviewing the safety of their weedkillers, as a US court ruled a commonly-used ingredient had given a man cancer. Homebase confirmed it was undertaking a review following a California jury’s decision to award a groundskeeper $289million after concluding the weedkiller Roundup had caused his terminal non-Hodgkins lymphoma.The UK’s biggest DIY chains have announced they are reviewing the safety of their weedkillers, as a US court ruled a commonly-used ingredient had given a man cancer.”

“The Friday decision by a San Francisco court to award groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson $289 million – including $250 in punitive damages – may now form part of a broader legal attack on GM food in the US. More than 5,000 other plaintiffs have similar cases against Monsanto, which was recently bought by German firm Bayer AG.”

Read the full article here.

Write to Bunnings (Australia) to ask what action the chain or your local store is taking
( https://www.bunnings.com.au/contact-us )

Monsanto’s secret strategies to market it’s weedkiller glyphosate despite knowledge of its serious health and environmental effects have now been exposed in this first case to come before US courts. The strategies mirror those of other neoliberal corporates (CSG, tobacco, asbestos etc), capturing regulators and academics alike to bury the truth.

Carey Gillam writes in a recent Guardian article “In a stunning blow to one of the world’s largest seed and chemical companies, jurors in San Francisco have told Monsanto it must pay $289m in damages to a man dying of cancer which he claims was caused by exposure to its herbicides…….The jury’s verdict found not only that Monsanto’s Roundup and related glyphosate-based brands presented a substantial danger to people using them, but that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Monsanto’s officials acted with “malice or oppression” in failing to adequately warn of the risks.”

Carey adds “The ramifications, however, are much broader and have global implications. Another trial is set to take place in October in St Louis and roughly 4,000 plaintiffs have claims pending with the potential outcomes resulting in many more hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in damage awards. They all allege not only that their cancers were caused by exposure to Monsanto’s herbicides, but that Monsanto has long known about, and covered up, the dangers. The team of plaintiffs’ attorneys leading the litigation say they so far have brought to light only a fraction of evidence collected from Monsanto’s internal files and plan to reveal much more in future trials.”

There is a terrific blog by Glyphosate Girl covering the court case day-by-day here.

Failures in chemicals testing and regulation cause untold damage to our children and their environment.

• In the U.S., there are about 80,000 registered chemicals. Of these, only a few hundred have been tested for safety, and even that testing is considered inadequate by most toxicologists
• Chemicals are tested in isolation. In real world application however, chemicals are used in combination, and the few studies done on synergetic effects reveal even nontoxic chemicals can become toxic when mixed together
• The agricultural and global chemical industries have manipulated the system to control and suppress safety concerns. Through regulatory capture, regulators end up working for the industry’s rather than the public’s interest
• Regulators make decisions on the safety of poisons in our food and environment based on data provided by the company selling the toxin, and outsiders cannot review that evidence
• There’s no specific safety testing done for children, but studies show there is no lower level of pesticides that is safe for children

The full article by Dr. Mercola can be read here.

From Robert Kennedy Jnr. “Great news in our federal case against Monsanto (not to be confused with DeWayne Johnson’s case in California Superior Court which we are currently trying before a San Francisco jury)!! The federal case consolidates some 300 cases of our clients who claim that Monsanto ‘s herbicide Roundup caused their non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Monsanto filed a so called Daubert motion for summary judgment dismissing our case on the basis that we failed to prove “General Causation.“ In other words, that our theory that Roundup exposure causes NHL is not established science. Federal District Judge Vince Chhabria found that we had met our burden and gave us the green light to go on to the next phase, which is presenting our scientific and medical evidence on “specific causation”—ie demonstrating that our clients got their NHL from exposure to Roundup. We still have some discovery to complete before those cases go to trial. Meanwhile, both sides completed opening statements yesterday in DeWayne Johnson’s case and we put our first witnesses on today.”

The full article can be viewed here.

Discovery documents arising from thousands of lawsuits claiming cancer development after exposure to Roundup herbicide uncover the corporate capture of science, which puts public health, and the very foundation of democracy, at risk.

Carey Gillam and Leemon McHenry found three major trends in the discovery documents:
1. “Ghostwriting”. When the scientific literature did not yield the results Monsanto desired, the company talked internally about writing its own journal articles and paying outside scientists to list their names on the documents when they were sent for publication.

2. Influencing journal editors. The company used all of its influence to pressure a journal editor to retract a paper, against the wishes of its authors, that drew results Monsanto found disagreeable.

3. Corrupting government agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency persuade the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a toxicological arm of the Department of Health and Human Services, from carrying out its own assessment of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

The full article and further references can be found here.

According to a new study published by the group of Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini at the University of Caen, France, an environmentally relevant concentration of Roundup caused changes in the gut microbiome of rats

You can read the full article here or get the full study here.

Thia article from the Cornucopia Institute illustrates the damaging interactions between pesticides and the microbial world.

This interference with microbial balance leads some researchers with expertise in genetic engineering, bacterial genetics and biosafety, like Professor Heinemann of the University of Canterbury to say that “The sub-lethal effects of industrially manufactured chemical products should be considered by regulators when deciding whether the products are safe for their intended use,” he says. We know, for instance, that endocrine disrupting chemicals have stronger effects at lower concentrations – less can be dangerous too and longterm accumulative effects can be disastrous.

This biotic world has complex interconnections which some are now realising. The simplistic mechanistic ‘scientific’ approach which has been seriously compromised by corporate billions both in our universities and our government bodies cannot lead us out of our toxic wilderness.

Since the EU Commission corrupted the determination to phase out the use of glyphosate within 5 years to re-registering it for 5 years, it is great to focus on some positive outcomes.

And here is one from Pesticide Action Network, North America. We are looking to the countries which voted against the decision to reregister to inform a more scientific debate on this toxic challenge.

This post is abridged from the euobserver

“EU member states agreed on Monday (27 November) on a five-year renewal period for the controversial herbicide glyphosate, used by Monsanto in its Roundup product. The decision was taken by EU member states’ experts, with 18 votes in favour, nine against and one abstention.

“Germany’s vote in favour of the proposal helped to reach a vote representing 65.71 percent of the EU population, just above the 65 percent threshold needed under the qualified majority rule.

“The nine countries that opposed the five-year renewal were Belgium, Greece, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, and Austria.
Portugal was the state that abstained. In a previous vote on 9 November, four states had abstained.

“The European Commission has now the green light for a a formal renewal of the licence for glyphosate in the EU.

“Germany’s decision to support the renewal created waves in Berlin with the outgoing coalition government.

[Ms Merkel (Christian Democrat), who made clear on Saturday (25th) she would pursue a grand coalition, said an acting government under her leadership could do business until a new coalition was formed. (ABC News 27/11/2017) It was under the acting government that Germany joined the vote on glyphosate renewal.]

“The (German) environment minister, Social Democrat Barbara Hendricks, said she had called her agriculture colleague, the Christian Democrat Christian Schmidt, in the morning to tell him that she ‘still did not agree’ with the renewal. ‘You cannot behave like this when you try to build trust’ she said after the Brussels vote, referring to the talks that are due to start soon to form a new coalition between the CDU and Christian Social Union, with the SPD.

“This is not a clear signal for a phase-out of glyphosate. The fight needs to go on” said Luxembourgish health minister Carole Dieschbourg, whose country voted against. Several hours after the decision was taken, a handful of left-leaning MEPs expressed their anger at a meeting of the environmental and food safety committee. ‘We didn’t ask for renewal, we asked for a phase-out,’ said Czech centre-left MEP Pavel Poc.

“In a resolution adopted in the parliament’s plenary in October, the parliament asked for a phase-out over the next five years. Poc said seeing this resolution as an endorsement of a five-year renewal was a ‘misinterpretation’ of the EP resolution.

“The Commission and most governments have chosen ‘to ignore the warnings of independent scientists, the demands of the European Parliament and the petition’ calling for a glyphosate ban, Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg commented.

“The committee will vote on an objection to the decision on Tuesday (28 November).”

It is interesting to note that governing structures in the neoliberal world are set up to ensure corporate control of legal processes. Throughout this re-registration process, the European Commission has been working against both the European Parliament and the European Council to ensure that glyphosate would gain re-registration.

Considerable research establishes that glyphosate adversely effects soil microbial species and communities, including nitrogen-fixing species and fungal populations. This new study by researchers at Cornell University looks at the response to glyphosate of soil bacteria (Pseudomonas spp) which produce a range of antibiotic compounds, iron-scavenging molecules (or siderophores), and plant growth promoters. Several species are effective biocontrol agents which protect plants against pathogens and promote plant health.

As this October 7th article in Sustainable Pulse points out “As farmers battle in their above-ground war on weeds using glyphosate-based herbicides, they may inadvertently create underground casualties – unintentionally attacking the beneficial bacteria that help crops guard against enemy fungus.”

You can read the full article here.

“Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.” Reported in the Guardian on September 28th.

“It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings.”

“Monsanto officials will now be unable to meet MEPs, attend committee meetings or use digital resources on parliament premises in Brussels or Strasbourg.”

The new rules for procedures of the EU Parliament were set in January 2017 and allow the Parliament to withdraw or deactivate temporary access where there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct for Registrants, where they have been guilty of a serious breach of the obligations, or have refused to comply with a formal summons to attend a hearing or committee meeting or to cooperate with a committee of inquiry, without offering a sufficient justification.

You can read the full article here.

“Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a federal judge has ruled Friday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to justify withholding more than 140 documents on the harm to protected wildlife, including Whooping Cranes, from the highly toxic pesticide Enlist Duo.

“The case involved the EPA’s controversial decision to approve use of Enlist Duo in 16 states even though the agency found the herbicide likely puts dozens of endangered and threatened species at risk.

“Thursday’s ruling indicated the EPA must be much more forthcoming in revealing the science that underpins its decisions on pesticides’ harms to endangered plants and animals.

“Calling the EPA’s reasons for withholding the documents on Enlist Duo “jumbled and disorganized,” the judge wrote that the agency inspired “little confidence” that it has “adequately kept track of each withheld document or fully considered, let alone explained, the basis for withholdings.”

“Enlist Duo’s maker, Dow Chemical, pushed the EPA to approve the pesticide to combat the superweed epidemic fueled by overuse of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

“During research on Enlist Duo, a Center scientist discovered that Dow’s patent applications regarding the pesticide’s two components — 2,4-D and glyphosate — showed synergy, or heightened toxicity, between the two ingredients in 99 out of 99 experimental conditions. Yet after reviewing four Enlist Duo studies provided by Dow to the EPA the agency concluded there is no synergy between glyphosate and 2,4-D.”

In 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that both 2,4_D and glyphosate are probable carcinogens.

This article was released by Sustainable Pulse on 30th September. You can read the full article here.

Whitewash has been written by Carey Gillam an ex-Reuters journalist who covered agriculture in the US for nearly 20 years. She fell foul of Monsanto as she covered the whole picture and not just the bits they wanted exposed. They continually complained about her to Reuters. The editors changed and no longer supported her. She now works with US Right to Know.

“Whitewash reads like a mystery novel, as Gillam skillfully uncovers Monsanto’s secretive strategies to convince countries around the world that its Roundup products were safe. The book unravels a tapestry of pesticide industry tricks to manipulate the scientific truths about their products while placing profits above human health and the environment. As someone who has experienced similar actions by corporations firsthand in my work far too often, I am hopeful that Carey’s book will be a wake-up call for more transparency about the dangers surrounding many chemicals in the marketplace.”
Erin Brockovich Consumer advocate and environmental activist

The book is available from Carey Gillam’s website.

EU regulators collaborated with Monsanto for glyphosate approval renewal. This article was published in GM Watch on 15th September and outlines how Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and then the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) collaborated with Monsanto to hoodwink the EU assessment of glyphosate and to oppose and undermine the determination by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that glyphosate (and 2,4-D) were probable carcinogens.

You can read the full article here.

Dicamba resistance in Monsanto’s GM products raises new concerns from Dr. Mercola:

“The rapid emergence of glyphosate-resistant superweeds has led to the development and use of even more toxic herbicides, including dicamba, which has been clearly linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma;

“Dicamba is an extremely potent and volatile toxin that is banned during growing season. Monsanto’s new weed killer, XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, designed for use with dicamba-resistant seeds, is supposed to be less prone to vaporization and drift;

“Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee are now investigating thousands of dicamba damage reports; an estimated 3.1 million acres have been damaged by dicamba drift this season”

You can read the full article here.

Documents released under Freedom of Information in the court case in the USA covering claims that Monsanto’s glyphosate has caused cancer is uncovering deep and widespread corruption. Carey Gillam, writing in Ecowatch, says

“Newly released government email communications show a persistent effort by multiple officials within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slow a separate federal agency’s safety review of Monsanto’s top-selling herbicide. Notably, the records demonstrate that the EPA efforts came at the behest of Monsanto, and that EPA officials were helpful enough to keep the chemical giant updated on their progress.

“The communications, most of which were obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, show that it was early 2015 when the EPA and Monsanto began working in concert to stall a toxicology review that a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was conducting on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s branded Roundup herbicide products. The details revealed in the documents come as Monsanto is defending itself against allegations that it has tried to cover up evidence of harm with its herbicides.”

You can read a blow-by-blow description here.