EU Votes today on banning glyphosate
Really great article in The Guardian summarizes the issues the MEP’s will vote on today when considering a ban by on glyphosate by 2020.
The problem is that glyphosate is found in food, water, and the blood and urine of most people tested because it is so widely used. Small amounts of it are harmful, especially cumulatively after constant year to year exposure.
Glyphosate is used on crops-conventional corn and soy and others-that are engineered to be resistant to the weed killer. The fields are then blanketed with the chemical to kill everything else. Glyphosate and its breakdown product, AMPA which is also toxic, are then absorbed into food, soil, and washed into water. No surprise that it is in our bodies if it is in our food and water. But chemical manufacturers argue that this is better for the soil because there is less erosion since it isn’t tilled. This isn’t true. Cover crops can be used to add nitrogen to the soil and prevent erosion. Cheaper, easier, and healthier. What is more, glyphosate kills the good soil bacteria, and prevents good soil culture and carbon retention by soil bacteria.
Here in the US the debate also goes on. California listed Glyphosate as cancer causing in July. But the EPA has not listed it as a carcinogen, and the EPA assessments have been based on Monsanto research, ignoring many academic researchers. Here is a great summary of that issue and the financial stakes in Bloomberg News.
One of the problems is that a scientist that worked for the chemical industry is now in charge of the EPA’s policies on chemicals. Truly the fox guarding the chicken coop.
In my NYT article in 2014 I wrote that gardeners need to stop using these chemicals in our yards. And we still do. But the problem now is not just that science and public policy can move at a snail’s pace. The problem is that science is being ignored. So we still need to stop using these chemicals on our yards and gardens, and teach our friends and neighbors why it is so important to do the same. But we also need to speak to our elected officials from both parties and tell them they are there to protect us from widespread problems that can’t be controlled on an individual basis. Regulating the use of chemicals that go into our food and water is important and needs to reflect current science.
The picture included here is by Jesse Chehak for Bloomberg Businessweek. Would you want to eat food from this field? Unfortunately we do.