Ban Glyphosate in public spaces in Far North Queensland: Sign the petition now
Locally Compiled Report on Our Current Situation
– Herbicide Use in Kuranda Region
– Spotlight on RoundUp & other glyphosate-based herbicides
News
– Monsanto ordered to pay US$289 million to man who claims Roundup weed killer caused cancer
– Weedkiller products more toxic than their active ingredient, tests show: The Guardian, 8 May 2018
– Calls for inquiry after Four Corners report on Monsanto and glyphosate chemical, Roundup: ABC Local, 8 Oct 2018
– Concerned about Roundup? Some local councils are already trying alternatives: ABC Local, 15 Aug 2018
– Blue Mountains Council to investigate reducing Roundup use: Blue Mountains Gazette, 25 Nov 2018
The Monsanto Papers
For decades Monsanto (now Bayer) & regulators told us that RoundUp and its principle ingredient Glyphosate was safe. safe enough to drink. . .safer than table salt! But in 2018, a US jury ruled that RoundUp contributed to a school gardener’s terminal cancer. He was awarded US$289.2 million in damages. Documents from the case reveal a decades-long campaign of deceit by Monsanto to protect their lucrative product.
– 1970s The laboratory testing for Monsanto implicated in fraud scandal with US EPA ruling RoundUp test results invalid
– 1980s New study prompt US EPA scientists to classify glyphosate as possibly carcinogenic to humans
– 1990s NY attorney general rules Monsanto engaging in false advertising about safety
– 1991 External laboratory tests of RoundUp found to be falsified – 15 people fined or imprisoned
– 2003 Monsanto toxicologist warns, “you cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen… we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement”
– 2014 The World Health Organization’s cancer agency IARC announces review of RoundUp & glyphosate.Monsanto’s lead toxicologist warns,“… what we have long been concerned about has happened. glyphosate is on for an IARC review”
– 2015 The IARC released their report classifying the world’s most sold herbicide, glyphosate, as a probable human carcinogen causing huge worldwide reaction
– 2017 European Union approved a limited 5-year licence for glyphosate, with France declaring a ban within 3 years
– 2018 Jury awards school gardener US$289 million in landmark case against Monsanto Currently, more than 9000 people across the US are suing Monsanto, claiming Roundup caused their cancer
Following the 2015 IARC report, a number of countries, cities & states have taken steps to restrict or ban glyphosate. These include Brussels, 400 towns in Argentina, 8 provinces in Canada, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Netherlands and Portugal. More details available here
More Safety Concerns: There are many health & safety concerns associated with RoundUp / glyphosate
Effects On Human Health: “Glyphosate, contrary to being essentially non-toxic, may in fact be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.” “Glyphosate could plausibly contribute to inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, depression, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, MS, cancer, infertility, and developmental malformations.”
2015 Adelaide university study has shown Roundup to be more toxic to human reproductive cells than glyphosate alone, as it was shown to be an endocrine disruptor. Tests for glyphosate routinely find traces in soil, water, food and human urine. A long-term US study indicated a 1200% increase in glyphosate levels in urine over a 20-year period since the mid-1990s
Effects On Environmental Health
“This study demonstrates glyphosate is moderately persistent in the marine water under low light conditions and is highly persistent in the dark. Little degradation would be expected during flood plumes in the
tropics, which could potentially deliver dissolved and sediment-bound glyphosate far from shore.
“(In seawater) glyphosate degraded most rapidly under low light conditions at 25°C with none detected by day 180, and most slowly in the dark at 31°C where 52% remained by day 330.
How is chemical runoff via Barron River catchments damaging the Great Barrier Reef?
The European Chemicals Agency has classified glyphosate as “a substance causing serious eye damage and being toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects“
Why Glyphosate is not the Issue with RoundUp
As glyphosate is the declared “active principle” in glyphosate-based herbicides, it’s the only one tested for regulatory purposes. However, research suggests that the so-called “inert” substances (formulants) in these herbicides are significantly more toxic. Glyphosate may very well be a red herring, diverting regulators’ attention away from the true toxic substances. “It is commonly believed that Roundup is among the safest pesticides. This idea is spread by manufacturers, mostly in the reviews they promote, which are often cited in toxicological evaluations of glyphosate-based herbicides. However, Roundup was found in this experiment to be 125 times more toxic than glyphosate…. This inconsistency between scientific fact and industrial claim may be attributed to huge economic interests, which have been found to falsify health risk assessments and delay health policy decisions”. “The compounds of the formulants [declared inert by manufacturers] and not glyphosate appeared as the determinants for cellular endocrine disruption, as well as for toxicity to human cells and plants.”
What’s in the formulants?
Glyphosate is never used alone but mixed with chemical formulants, identified as mainly families of petroleum-based oxidized molecules such as polyoxyethylenamines (POEA). While declared inert by manufacturers, research demonstrates POEAs to be herbicides – NOT inert. Disturbingly, most glyphosate-based and other herbicides tested were found to be contaminated with the heavy metals Arsenic, Chromium, Cobalt, Lead and Nickel at levels higher than permitted levels in water in the EU & USA. These heavy metals may originate from contamination during the manufacturing process – or they may be added intentionally. Implications for Kuranda RoundUp / glyphosate is the herbicide of choice for conventional farmers as well as local, state & national bodies. With the 2015 IARC report and the 2018 landmark ruling against Monsanto – a precedent has been set: RoundUp and other glyphosate-based herbicides can no-longer be considered safe.
The evidence is publicly available and mounting.
Any private or public organisation using RoundUp risk being sued by employees and residents if their health is affected.
Kuranda Regional Planning Group, Friends of the Earth FNQ & concerned residents demand that Mareeba Shire Council & other local service providers transition away from using poisons towards more sustainable and healthy weed management systems.