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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:25:25 -0700
From: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: GMW: Glyphosate: The all-round killer - German press articles
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NOTE: The following is a merger of two almost identical articles that appe=
ared in the German press, and which have been translated into English.

The Earth Open Source report mentioned in the articles is "Roundup and bir=
th defects =E2=80=93 is the public being kept in the dark?"
http://scr.bi/RRbirthdef

This report showed that industry (including Monsanto) knew from its own st=
udies 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.=20

The German government, the "rapporteur" member state for glyphosate, knew=
 from 1998 from its own reading of these same industry studies. Germany ex=
plained away the birth defects by redefining them as a "developmental vari=
ation[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 teratogen=
icity" (ability to cause birth defects) for glyphosate. In making this cla=
im, 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 =E2=80=93 THE CULTIVATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SOY POSES=
 ALSO A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH, SAY SCIENTISTS. BY LICENSING ALLEGEDLY NON=
=E2=80=90HAZARDOUS GRAINS FROM SOUTH AMERICA THE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP WWF=
 HAS COME UNDER CRITICISM.

Frankfurt a. M. =E2=80=93 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 mark=
et back in 1974, when the US agribusiness giant first promoted it as a com=
plete 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, full=
y 83 per cent of genetically modified plants are resistant to this herbici=
de.

However, it seems that the product does not live up to its initial promise=
 =E2=80=93 that glyphosate would simplify farming, and even enhance enviro=
nmental protection. More and more studies have shown that the herbicide,=
 which will be up for re=E2=80=90evaluation 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=E2=
=80=99s 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. App=
arently, glyphosate is more damaging to mammals and other vertebrates, inc=
luding perhaps humans, than was previously assumed. And there=E2=80=99s mo=
re: such undesirable side effects have apparently been known to EU authori=
ties and German regulatory authorities with EU responsibility since the en=
d of the 1990s.

To cite one example, Argentine Professor Andr=C3=A9s Carrasco published a=
 study in 2009 that substantiated the dangers of Roundup spray. He conclud=
ed that the herbicide caused dysplasia in frog and chicken embryos even at=
 doses lower than levels commonly used in agriculture The consequences obs=
erved in animals are comparable to those found "in humans exposed to glyph=
osate 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 gen=
eticist teaching in London. The study, Roundup and birth defects =E2=80=93=
 is the public being kept in the dark?[3], points to miscarriages and birt=
h defects in new=E2=80=90borns in Argentina and Paraguay whose parents liv=
e near fields of genetically modified soybeans. A study of regulatory appr=
oval documents also shows that German authorities knew about foot deformit=
ies in rats and rabbits. These consequences were also observed in some cas=
es 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, spok=
esperson 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=E2=80=90based scientist, is demanding co=
mpletely new standards at the upcoming EU re=E2=80=90approval proceedings=
 for glyphosate that have been postponed for three years, to 2015. Many co=
nsumers are not aware that they are in fact the end consumers of genetical=
ly modified soybeans when they consume the meat of animals that have consu=
med them.

Copyright =C2=A9 2011 Frankfurter Rundschau
Copyright =C2=A9 2011 Berliner zeitung

1. The German original of this article was published on 11 July 2011 in tw=
o 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 sou=
rce 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

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