The Millions Against Monsanto Campaign was started by the Organic Consumers

Association in the mid 1990's to fight back against the biotech bullying of the
infamous chemical company Monsanto, responsible for Agent Orange, PCBs,
GMOs, environmental disasters and so much more.
For nearly two decades, Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have exercised
near-dictatorial control over American agriculture. Finally, public opinion around
the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our
environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.

Monsantos Roundup. Enough to Make You Sick.

January 21, 2015
Organic Consumers Association by Alexis Baden-Mayer
Food Safety,
Genetic Engineering,
Health Issues
Crop Spraying

Photo: Pixabay

Monsanto invented the herbicide glyphosate and brought it to market under the
trade name Roundup in 1974, after DDT was banned. But it wasnt until the late
1990s that the use of Roundup surged, thanks to Monsanto's ingenious
marketing strategy. The strategy? Genetically engineer seeds to grow food crops
that could tolerate high doses of Roundup. With the introduction of these new GE
seeds, farmers could now easily control weeds on their corn, soy, cotton, canola,
sugar beets and alfalfa crops--crops that thrived while the weeds around them
were wiped out by Roundup.

Eager to sell more of its flagship herbicide, Monsanto also encouraged farmers to
use Roundup as a dessicant, to dry out all of their crops so they could harvest
them faster. So Roundup is now routinely sprayed directly on a host of non-GMO
crops, including wheat, barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, lentils, soybeans, dry
beans and sugar cane.

Between 1996 - 2011, the widespread use of Roundup Ready GMO crops
increased herbicide use in the U.S. by 527 million poundseven though
Monsanto claimed its GMO crops would redce pesticide and herbicide use.

Monsanto has falsified data on Roundups safety, and marketed it to parks

departments and consumers as environmentally friendly and biodegradable,
to encourage its use it on roadsides, playgrounds, golf courses, schoolyards,
lawns and home gardens. A French court ruled those marketing claims amounted
to false advertising.

In the nearly 20 years of intensifying exposure, scientists have been

documenting the health consequences of Roundup and glyphosate in our food, in
the water we drink, in the air we breathe and where our children play.

They've found that people who are sick have higher levels of glyphosate in their
bodies than healthy people.

They've also found the following health problems which they attribute to
exposure to Roundup and/or glyphosate:

ADHD: In farming communities, theres a strong correlation between Roundup

exposure and attention deficit disorder (ADHD), likely due to glyphosates
capacity to disrupt thyroid hormone functions.

Alzheimers disease: In the lab, Roundup causes the same type of oxidative
stress and neural cell death observed in Alzheimers disease. And it affects
CaMKII, an enzyme whose dysregulation has also been linked to the disease.

Anencephaly (birth defect): An investigation into neural tube defects among

babies born to women living within 1,000 meters of pesticide applications
showed an association for glyphosate with anencephaly, the absence of a major
portion of the brain, skull and scalp that forms during embryonic development.

Autism: Glyphosate has a number of known biological effects that align with the
known pathologies associated with autism. One of these parallels is the gut
dysbiosis observed in autistic children and the toxicity of glyphosate to beneficial

bacteria that suppress pathogenic bacteria, along with pathogenic bacterias

high resistance to glyphosate. In addition, glyphosates capacity to promote
aluminum accumulation in the brain may make it the principal cause of autism in
the U.S.

Birth defects: Roundup and glyphosate can disrupt the Vitamin A (retinoic acid)
signaling pathway, which is crucial for normal fetal development. The babies of
women living within one kilometer of fields sprayed with glyphosate were more
than twice as likely to have birth defects according to a study from Paraguay.
Congenital defects quadrupled in the decade after Roundup Ready crops arrived
in Chaco, a province in Argentina where glyphosate is used roughly eight to ten
times more per acre than in the U.S. A study of one farming family in the U.S.
documented elevated levels of glyphosate and birth defects in the children,
including an imperforate anus, growth hormone deficiency, hypospadias (an
abnormally placed urinary hole), a heart defect and a micro penis.

Brain cancer: In a study of children with brain cancer compared with healthy
children, researchers found that if either parent had been exposed to Roundup
during the two years before the child's birth, the chances of the child developing
brain cancer doubled.

Breast cancer: Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via
estrogen receptors. The only long-term animal study of glyphosate exposure
produced rats with mammary tumors and shortened life-spans.

Cancer: House-to-house surveys of 65,000 people in farming communities in

Argentina where Roundup is used, known there as the fumigated towns, found
cancer rates two to four times higher than the national average, with increases
in breast, prostate and lung cancers. In a comparison of two villages, in the one
where Roundup was sprayed, 31 percent of residents had a family member with
cancer, while only 3 percent of residents in a ranching village without spraying
had one. The high cancer rates among people exposed to Roundup likely stem
from glyphosates known capacity to induce DNA damage, which has been
demonstrated in numerous lab tests.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance: Fish exposed to glyphosate develop

digestive problems that are reminiscent of celiac disease. There are parallels
between the characteristics of celiac disease and the known effects of
glyphosate. These include imbalances in gut bacteria, impairment in enzymes

involved with detoxifying environmental toxins, mineral deficiencies and amino

acid depletion.

Chronic kidney disease: Increases in the use of glyphosate may explain the
recent surge in kidney failure among agricultural workers in Central America, Sri
Lanka and India. Scientists have concluded, Although glyphosate alone does not
cause an epidemic of chronic kidney disease, it seems to have acquired the
ability to destroy the renal tissues of thousands of farmers when it forms
complexes with [hard water] and nephrotoxic metals.

Colitis: The toxicity of glyphosate to beneficial bacteria that suppress clostridia,

along with clostridias high resistance to glyphosate, could be a significant
predisposing factor in the overgrowth of clostridia. Overgrowth of clostridia,
specifically C. difficile, is a well-established causal factor in colitis.

Depression: Glyphosate disrupts chemical processes that impact the production

of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite and
sleep. Serotonin impairment has been linked to depression.

Diabetes: Low levels of testosterone are a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Rats
fed environmentally relevant doses of Roundup over a period of 30 days
spanning the onset of puberty had reduced testosterone production sufficient to
alter testicular cell morphology and to delay the onset of puberty.

Heart disease: Glyphosate can disrupt the bodys enzymes, causing lysosomal
dysfunction, a major factor in cardiovascular disease and heart failure.

Hypothyroidism: House-to-house surveys of 65,000 people in farming

communities in Argentina where Roundup is used, known there as the fumigated
towns, found higher rates of hypothyroidism.

Inflammatory Bowl Disease (Leaky Gut Syndrome): Glyphosate can induce

severe tryptophan deficiency, which can lead to an extreme inflammatory bowel
disease that severely impairs the ability to absorb nutrients through the gut, due
to inflammation, bleeding and diarrhea.

Liver disease: Very low doses of Roundup can disrupt human liver cell function,
according to a 2009 study published in Toxicology.

Lou Gehrigs Disease (ALS): Sulfate deficiency in the brain has been associated
with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Glyphosate disrupts sulfate transport
from the gut to the liver, and may lead over time to severe sulfate deficiency
throughout all the tissues, including the brain.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS): An increased incidence of inflammatory bowel disease

(IBS) has been found in association with MS. Glyphosate may be a causal factor.
The hypothesis is that glyphosate-induced IBS causes gut bacteria to leak into
the vasculature, triggering an immune reaction and consequently an
autoimmune disorder resulting in destruction of the myelin sheath.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A systematic review and a series of meta-analyses of

nearly three decades worth of epidemiologic research on the relationship
between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposure to agricultural
pesticides found that B cell lymphoma was positively associated with glyphosate.

Parkinsons disease: The brain-damaging effects of herbicides have been

recognized as the main environmental factor associated with neurodegenerative
disorders, including Parkinson's disease. The onset of Parkinsons following
exposure to glyphosate has been well documented and lab studies show that
glyphosate induces the cell death characteristic of the disease.

Pregnancy problems (infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths): Glyphosate is toxic to

human placental cells, which, scientists say, explains the pregnancy problems of
agricultural workers exposed to the herbicide.

Obesity: An experiment involving the transfer of a strain of endotoxin-producing

bacteria from the gut of an obese human to the guts of mice caused the mice to
become obese. Since glyphosate induces a shift in gut bacteria towards
endotoxin-producers, glyphosate exposure may contribute to obesity in this way.

Reproductive problems: Studies of laboratory animals have found that male rats
exposed to high levels of glyphosate, either during prenatal or pubertal
development, suffer from reproductive problems, including delayed puberty,
decreased sperm production, and decreased testosterone production.

Respiratory illnesses: House-to-house surveys of 65,000 people in farming

communities in Argentina where Roundup is used, known there as the fumigated
towns, found higher rates of chronic respiratory illnesses.

Alexis Baden-Mayer is political director of the Organic Consumers Association.

Tell Monsanto: GMOs and Glyphosate Have Made Me Sick

Take Action:
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On January 30, the OCA, Moms Across America and others will attend the
Monsanto shareholders annual meeting. Well present scientific evidence and
mounting individual testimonies that glyphosate, the key active ingredient in
Roundup, is making people sick.

This is your chance to tell Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant how you or a family
member went from sick to healthy by avoiding Roundup and GMO foods.

Take Action: Send us your testimonial about the impact of glyphosate and/or
GMO foods on your (or a member of your familys) health. Well deliver it to
Monsanto on January 30.

We're also collecting pictures of people whose health has been affected for a
rally outside the meeting. You can email photos to alexis@organicconsumers.org.
Rally info here.

According to scientists who analyzed a total of 102 and 199 urine samples from
healthy and diseased humans, Chronically ill humans showed significantly
higher glyphosate residues in urine than healthy population.

Those scientists concluded: The presence of glyphosate residues in humans

could haul the entire population towards numerous health hazards.

Indeed, there is scientific evidence that links Monsantos Roundup herbicide

and/or its key active ingredient, glyphosate, to numerous health hazards,
including:

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)

Alzheimers disease

Autism

Birth defects

Blood cancer

Breast cancer

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance

Chronic kidney disease

Depression

Diabetes

Endocrine disruption (linked to type 2 diabetes, ADHD, depression, cancers

of the sexual tissues and endocrine system, genital-urinary tract malformations,
and lowered fertility rates)

Gastrointestinal disorders

Heart disease

Mammary tumors and pre-mature death

Parkinsons

Pregnancy problems (infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths)

Obesity

Reproductive problems (delayed puberty, decreased sperm production, and

decreased testosterone production)

Have you experienced any of these problems and been able to link them to
exposure to Roundup? Did your symptoms improve when you went organic and
stopped eating genetically engineered Roundup-Ready crops, or otherwise
stopped being exposed to Roundup?

Tell the EPA: No More Neonic-Coated Soybean Seeds!

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Phone
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information and you may unsubscribe at any time.

Monsanto sells soybean seeds coated in neonicotinoids (a class of pesticides

directly linked to the mass die-off of honeybees) under pretense of helping
farmers increase their yields.

But according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pre-treating

soybean seeds with neonics doesnt deliver on that promise. And now, new
evidence suggests that not only do pretreated soybean seeds not provide any
benefit to farmers, they may actually cause a decrease in crop yields.

Take Action: Tell the EPA: No More Neonic-Coated Soybean Seeds!

In October 2014, the EPA, after a long-overdue analysis, issued a report

concluding that pre-treating soybean seeds with neonics provided little or no
overall benefits to soybean production in most situations.

According to EPA's analysis, neonicotinoid seed coatings are used on more than
23 million acres of soybeans in the U.S., and more than 1 million pounds of the
insecticides were applied to soybean seeds from 2008 - 2012.

The EPA analysis and report followed a report by the Center for Food Safety (CFS)
which drew the same conclusion, not only for soybean seeds, but also for other
genetically engineered crop seeds. Titled Heavy Costs: Weighing the Value of
Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Agriculture, the CFS report summarized 19 articles
from scientific journals that studied the relationship between neonic treatments
and actual yields of major US crops, including canola, corn, dry beans, soybeans,
and wheat.

The CFS report concluded that neonics are massively overused in the U.S.,
without corresponding yield.

Its bad enough that neonics, which poison soils, waterways and are allowed at
EPA-defined tolerances to remain as residue on human foods, are massively
overused without any real benefit. But a new study suggests that neonics
actually decrease yields.

As reported by Rabble.ca, the use of thiomethoxam, one of three neonics used to

pretreat soybean seeds, may be hurting farmers:

Thiomethoxam, a neonicotinoid nerve poison, is widely applied to soybeans as a

seed coating. After a bean seed is planted and it germinates and grows into a
plant, every cell of the plant becomes infused with the neonicotinoid pesticide. In
theory, when a pest feeds on the soybean plant, it dies from neonicotinoid
pesticide exposure.

However, a 2014 study by Margaret Douglas of Pennsylvania State University

and coworkers in the Journal of Applied Ecology demonstrates that slugsa
major soybean pestare unaffected when they feed on neonicotinoid-treated
soybean plants. However, beneficial ground beetlesnaturally abundant
predators that eat slugs and normally keep them in checkexperience seizures,
paralysis and death when they eat slugs from plants containing these nerve
poisons.

With so much growing evidence of how destructive neonics are to pollinators and
the environment (and therefore, humans), and how ineffective they are, why is
Monsanto still selling neonic-coated seeds?

Profits. According to a report by Friends of the Earth, the neonic industry is worth
$2.6 billion. Monsanto sales in its Seeds and Genomics segment netted $9.8
billion in 2012, according to FOE. That figure includes sales of Monsantos
Acceleron as a designer seed treatment for its genetically-modified corn,
soy and cotton. Acceleron contains the neonics imidacloprid and clothianadin.

Who else profits? The manufacturers of neonics. FOE reports that Bayer
recorded $1.1 billion (2009) in sales of imidacloprid, and another $439 million
that same year in sales of clothianidin. Meanwhile Syngenta reported 2009 sales
of $627 million of its neonic product, thiamethoxam.

The EPA has extended the deadline for comments on its analysis of pretreating
soybeans with neonics until January 23. That extension allowed Bayer to publish
its own white paper claiming that the EPA, and the scientists cited by CFS, are
all wrong. Will the EPA heed the scientists? Or side with the Bayer-funded
research?

Please tell the EPA: Stop protecting corporate profits. No more neonic-treated
soybean seeds!