Blog 5
EH 2000
Glyphosate
is a broad-spectrum herbicide that was fist synthesized in Switzerland in 1950
as a chemical agent that would bind to and remove heavy metals. In 1970,
Monsanto discovered Glyphosate while trying to find a chemical water softener.
It was only incidental that they would learn Glyphosate is a mildly effective
pesticide. Since then, Glyphosate has become the most widely used
pesticide of all time. The science journal Environmental
Sciences Europe released report recently stating that since 1974, the
United States has used 1.8 million tons of Glyphosate on her crops. The same
report shows that throughout the world, 9.4 million tons has been used. In
2013, Friends of the Earth Europe cited
an experiment from an independent laboratory which tested individuals from
eighteen different countries for glyphosate. 44% of the test subjects’ urine
tested positive for glyphosate.
The
herbicide is engineered to be highly effective on broadleaf plants and grasses.
The reason desirable crops survive the application of the herbicide is that
they have been genetically modified to do so. These are called “Roundup ready
crops”. The Roundup is then sprayed directly on the crops.
There
is great debate in the United States and other countries around the world
concerning the health effects of using Roundup on our crops. The controversy
does not stem only from the use of the chemical glyphosate, but the amount of
glyphosate that is to be used. Some sources report that glyphosate or Roundup
is sprayed on crops multiple times, including right before harvest, which
wouldn’t seem to make much sense. Whether glyphosate is a carcinogen depends on
whom you ask. Unsurprisingly, Monsanto strongly disagrees that glyphosate
causes cancer in humans. Perhaps less surprisingly, the Environmental
Protection Agency agrees with them. Since 1983, the EPA has also relaxed its
standards on what it would consider a “toxic” amount of glyphosate. Most
studies done on mammals (mostly dogs and mice) show little effect on the test
subjects’ health that can be attributed to glyphosate. While it can be an eye
irritant in large doses, it is passed through the body largely unchanged. The
only type of animal glyphosate showed even mild toxicity to is birds. Even
then, the LD50 was recorded at 4,500 parts per million. One must keep in mind
however that anything can be toxic or non-toxic depending on dosage.
On
the other side of the argument, the World Health Organization’s International
Agency for Research on Cancer made a statement in March 2015 that glyphosate is
“probably carcinogenic to humans”. Newsweek published a less contested study
which showed that glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor and interferes with
hormone production in humans.
Interestingly,
the wide use of Roundup or glyphosate on weeds all over the world has caused
the rise of Roundup-resistant weeds. Roughly half of American farmers must deal
with weeds that have evolved a genetic immunity to glyphosate, and continue to
grow and spread. The phenomenon occurs the same way as antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, which evolve a genetic defense for antibiotics and then spread
throughout the body.
