On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 9:51 PM, Thomas Mathews <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> **
>  Iowa is very likely the most Roundup/glyphosate drenched place on
> earth.--Tom
>

So why don't we find more 2-headed, 5-legged frogs?  Oh, yeah, we drained
all the wetlands.


>
> In a message dated 7/19/2011 6:30:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> NOTE: The following is a merger of two almost identical articles that
> appeared in the German press, and which have been translated into English.
>
> The Earth Open Source report mentioned in the articles is "Roundup and
> birth defects – is the public being kept in the dark?"
> http://scr.bi/RRbirthdef
>
> This report showed that industry (including Monsanto) knew from its own
> studies conducted in the 1980s that glyphosate caused birth defects in lab
> animals at high doses; from the 1990s, industry knew that these effects also
> occurred at lower and mid doses.
>
> The German government, the "rapporteur" member state for glyphosate, knew
> from 1998 from its own reading of these same industry studies. Germany
> explained away the birth defects by redefining them as a "developmental
> variation[s]" - along with other 'creative' reasoning.
>
> The EU Commission knew from 2002, when it approved glyphosate, incorrectly
> claiming that the birth defects only occurred at high doses that poisoned
> the mothers. This is the 9-year-old document referred to so blithely by the
> German government official in the article below--who suggests that it fully
> informs the public of the risks of glyphosate!
>
> Only last year, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food
> Safety (BVL) told the Commission that there was "no evidence of
> teratogenicity" (ability to cause birth defects) for glyphosate. In making
> this claim, BVL was ignoring not only independent studies showing that
> glyphosate and Roundup cause birth defects, including at low realistic
> levels, but industry's own studies from as long ago as the 1980s.
>
> In the light of all this, it's interesting to read BVL's defence, below.
> ---
> ---
> Glyphosate: The Problematic Victory
> By Stephan Bornecke
> Frankfurter Rundschau
> 11 July 2011
>
> The All-Round Killer
> Berliner Zeitung
> 11 July 2011
> For urls see footnotes below
>
> BIOTECHNOLOGY – THE CULTIVATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SOY POSES ALSO A
> THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH, SAY SCIENTISTS. BY LICENSING ALLEGEDLY NON‐HAZARDOUS
> GRAINS FROM SOUTH AMERICA THE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP WWF HAS COME UNDER
> CRITICISM.
>
> Frankfurt a. M. – It is the most widely applied herbicide in the world and
> closely linked with genetic engineering in agriculture. But now glyphosate
> is suspected of posing a health risk to humans.
>
> Known by the brand name Roundup, glyphosate began its conquest of the
> market back in 1974, when the US agribusiness giant first promoted it as a
> complete herbicide.
>
> But it was the development of genetically engineered soybeans in 1996 that
> really ensured its victory. Since then, corn, canola, cotton, and sugar
> beets have been developed that are Roundup resistant. At this point, fully
> 83 per cent of genetically modified plants are resistant to this herbicide.
>
> However, it seems that the product does not live up to its initial promise
> – that glyphosate would simplify farming, and even enhance environmental
> protection. More and more studies have shown that the herbicide, which will
> be up for re‐evaluation by the EU, negatively impacts wild plants, soil
> biota, aquatic life forms, and even the plants it is designed to protect,
> for instance, by increasing the incidence of fungal attacks. And that’s not
> all. Other plants have also developed resistance to it, which means more
> spraying, not less.
>
> Now new investigations have revealed another dimension to the problem.
> Apparently, glyphosate is more damaging to mammals and other vertebrates,
> including perhaps humans, than was previously assumed. And there’s more:
> such undesirable side effects have apparently been known to EU authorities
> and German regulatory authorities with EU responsibility since the end of
> the 1990s.
>
> To cite one example, Argentine Professor Andrés Carrasco published a study
> in 2009 that substantiated the dangers of Roundup spray. He concluded that
> the herbicide caused dysplasia in frog and chicken embryos even at doses
> lower than levels commonly used in agriculture The consequences observed in
> animals are comparable to those found "in humans exposed to glyphosate
> during pregnancy."
>
> There must have been serious findings pointing in this direction early on,
> and they must have been known not only to the industry but to regulatory
> authorities as well. At least that is the claim of an international group of
> Earth Open Source researchers led by Michael Antoniou, a molecular
> geneticist teaching in London. The study, Roundup and birth defects – is the
> public being kept in the dark?[3], points to miscarriages and birth defects
> in new‐borns in Argentina and Paraguay whose parents live near fields of
> genetically modified soybeans. A study of regulatory approval documents also
> shows that German authorities knew about foot deformities in rats and
> rabbits. These consequences were also observed in some cases at dosage
> levels in soybeans that are approved for humans.
>
> The report by the EU health commissioner in charge at the time downplayed
> possible embryo abnormalities, opining that such deformities would only
> ensue if the mothers had ingested a deadly dose of the herbicide.
>
> In response to a question from the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, the
> German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), which is
> also the EU rapporteur, called the criticism "baseless", stating that no
> important information was withheld from the public. Andreas Tief,
> spokesperson for the BVL, added that Antoniou had relied on "a document that
> is available to the public, and has been for nine years now".
>
> In light of the emerging awareness of the risk to the human reproductive
> system, Christoph Then, a Munich‐based scientist, is demanding completely
> new standards at the upcoming EU re‐approval proceedings for glyphosate that
> have been postponed for three years, to 2015. Many consumers are not aware
> that they are in fact the end consumers of genetically modified soybeans
> when they consume the meat of animals that have consumed them.
>
> Copyright © 2011 Frankfurter Rundschau
> Copyright © 2011 Berliner zeitung
>
> 1. The German original of this article was published on 11 July 2011 in two
> almost identical versions simultaneously in Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) and
> Berliner Zeitung (BZ), two daily broadsheet newspapers that are well known
> beyond the regional limits where they are published. The online source for
> FR is
> http://bit.ly/glyph_FR
> for BZ it is
> http://bit.ly/glyph_BZ
> 2. Translation from the original article in German by Larass Translations,
> Ottawa; the two versions have been integrated.
> 3 Study downloadable from http://scr.bi/RRbirthdef
>
> ................................................................
> Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
> Profiles: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GMWatch/276951472985?ref=nf
>
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>
>
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> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:25:25 -0700
> Subject: GMW: Glyphosate: The all-round killer - German press articles
>
>
> NOTE: The following is a merger of two almost identical articles that
> appeared in the German press, and which have been translated into English.
>
> The Earth Open Source report mentioned in the articles is "Roundup and
> birth defects – is the public being kept in the dark?"
> http://scr.bi/RRbirthdef
>
> This report showed that industry (including Monsanto) knew from its own
> studies conducted in the 1980s that glyphosate caused birth defects in lab
> animals at high doses; from the 1990s, industry knew that these effects also
> occurred at lower and mid doses.
>
> The German government, the "rapporteur" member state for glyphosate, knew
> from 1998 from its own reading of these same industry studies. Germany
> explained away the birth defects by redefining them as a "developmental
> variation[s]" - along with other 'creative' reasoning.
>
> The EU Commission knew from 2002, when it approved glyphosate, incorrectly
> claiming that the birth defects only occurred at high doses that poisoned
> the mothers. This is the 9-year-old document referred to so blithely by the
> German government official in the article below--who suggests that it fully
> informs the public of the risks of glyphosate!
>
> Only last year, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food
> Safety (BVL) told the Commission that there was "no evidence of
> teratogenicity" (ability to cause birth defects) for glyphosate. In making
> this claim, BVL was ignoring not only independent studies showing that
> glyphosate and Roundup cause birth defects, including at low realistic
> levels, but industry's own studies from as long ago as the 1980s.
>
> In the light of all this, it's interesting to read BVL's defence, below.
> ---
> ---
> Glyphosate: The Problematic Victory
> By Stephan Bornecke
> Frankfurter Rundschau
> 11 July 2011
>
> The All-Round Killer
> Berliner Zeitung
> 11 July 2011
> For urls see footnotes below
>
> BIOTECHNOLOGY – THE CULTIVATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SOY POSES ALSO A
> THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH, SAY SCIENTISTS. BY LICENSING ALLEGEDLY NON‐HAZARDOUS
> GRAINS FROM SOUTH AMERICA THE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP WWF HAS COME UNDER
> CRITICISM.
>
> Frankfurt a. M. – It is the most widely applied herbicide in the world and
> closely linked with genetic engineering in agriculture. But now glyphosate
> is suspected of posing a health risk to humans.
>
> Known by the brand name Roundup, glyphosate began its conquest of the
> market back in 1974, when the US agribusiness giant first promoted it as a
> complete herbicide.
>
> But it was the development of genetically engineered soybeans in 1996 that
> really ensured its victory. Since then, corn, canola, cotton, and sugar
> beets have been developed that are Roundup resistant. At this point, fully
> 83 per cent of genetically modified plants are resistant to this herbicide.
>
> However, it seems that the product does not live up to its initial promise
> – that glyphosate would simplify farming, and even enhance environmental
> protection. More and more studies have shown that the herbicide, which will
> be up for re‐evaluation by the EU, negatively impacts wild plants, soil
> biota, aquatic life forms, and even the plants it is designed to protect,
> for instance, by increasing the incidence of fungal attacks. And that’s not
> all. Other plants have also developed resistance to it, which means more
> spraying, not less.
>
> Now new investigations have revealed another dimension to the problem.
> Apparently, glyphosate is more damaging to mammals and other vertebrates,
> including perhaps humans, than was previously assumed. And there’s more:
> such undesirable side effects have apparently been known to EU authorities
> and German regulatory authorities with EU responsibility since the end of
> the 1990s.
>
> To cite one example, Argentine Professor Andrés Carrasco published a study
> in 2009 that substantiated the dangers of Roundup spray. He concluded that
> the herbicide caused dysplasia in frog and chicken embryos even at doses
> lower than levels commonly used in agriculture The consequences observed in
> animals are comparable to those found "in humans exposed to glyphosate
> during pregnancy."
>
> There must have been serious findings pointing in this direction early on,
> and they must have been known not only to the industry but to regulatory
> authorities as well. At least that is the claim of an international group of
> Earth Open Source researchers led by Michael Antoniou, a molecular
> geneticist teaching in London. The study, Roundup and birth defects – is the
> public being kept in the dark?[3], points to miscarriages and birth defects
> in new‐borns in Argentina and Paraguay whose parents live near fields of
> genetically modified soybeans. A study of regulatory approval documents also
> shows that German authorities knew about foot deformities in rats and
> rabbits. These consequences were also observed in some cases at dosage
> levels in soybeans that are approved for humans.
>
> The report by the EU health commissioner in charge at the time downplayed
> possible embryo abnormalities, opining that such deformities would only
> ensue if the mothers had ingested a deadly dose of the herbicide.
>
> In response to a question from the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, the
> German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), which is
> also the EU rapporteur, called the criticism "baseless", stating that no
> important information was withheld from the public. Andreas Tief,
> spokesperson for the BVL, added that Antoniou had relied on "a document that
> is available to the public, and has been for nine years now".
>
> In light of the emerging awareness of the risk to the human reproductive
> system, Christoph Then, a Munich‐based scientist, is demanding completely
> new standards at the upcoming EU re‐approval proceedings for glyphosate that
> have been postponed for three years, to 2015. Many consumers are not aware
> that they are in fact the end consumers of genetically modified soybeans
> when they consume the meat of animals that have consumed them.
>
> Copyright © 2011 Frankfurter Rundschau
> Copyright © 2011 Berliner zeitung
>
> 1. The German original of this article was published on 11 July 2011 in two
> almost identical versions simultaneously in Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) and
> Berliner Zeitung (BZ), two daily broadsheet newspapers that are well known
> beyond the regional limits where they are published. The online source for
> FR is
> http://bit.ly/glyph_FR
> for BZ it is
> http://bit.ly/glyph_BZ
> 2. Translation from the original article in German by Larass Translations,
> Ottawa; the two versions have been integrated.
> 3 Study downloadable from http://scr.bi/RRbirthdef
>
> ................................................................
> Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
> Profiles: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GMWatch/276951472985?ref=nf
>
> This email should only be sent to those who have asked to receive it.
> To unsubscribe, contact [log in to unmask], specifying which list you wish
> to unsubscribe from.
>
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> Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
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>
> Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
> e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
> latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
> editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

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