Running Head: Environmental Responsibility of Monsanto

Environmental Responsibility of Monsanto

Victor Manuel Barbosa Alonso

City University of Seattle

09/09/18
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Abstract

Monsanto is a very popular company that focuses in the production of biotechnology, but

in order to become a successful company it has performed actions that have affected the

environment and its own image. The objective of this essay is to demonstrate that Monsanto is an

environmentally irresponsible company. This objective would be achieved by exposing several

problems caused by the effects of their products, scandals in which the company has been involved

and how they have deal with environmental concerning. It is also explained how the environment,

the health of organisms and the biodiversity is being affected because of Monsanto products. In

addition, it would also be compared Monsanto’s arguments of performing actions to take care of

the environment against the environmental problems caused by the company. Finally, it is

determined if Monsanto is an irresponsible company or not. In this part, it is also stated the

importance of taking care of the environment and a recommendation for Monsanto to become an

environmentally responsible and ethical company.

When you think on Monsanto company, you remember of genetically modified organisms

(GMO). Monsanto is the largest GMO seed company in the world and a leading global supplier of

herbicides and pesticides, with net sales of about 14.6 billion dollars in 2017. These products have

contributed to satisfy the increasing global demand of food by developing more resistant plants

and efficient pesticides and herbicides. But through its history, this company has been involved in

many environmental scandals. Monsanto’s products have been very criticized, they have been

pointed of producing harmful effects on the health of plants, animals and even humans. Their

products have also been targeted of producing harmful changes on the environment. This has
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created a lot of concerning and questions about the effects of these products and Monsanto has yet

not been able to respond effectively how they will solve them. Even though Monsanto’s products

have brought several benefits to the production of food, Monsanto is an environmentally

irresponsible company due to the effects of its products and practices on the environment.

Environmental scandals have been always part of Monsanto’s history. In 1970’s, Monsanto

produced a chemical known as Agent Orange (Ferrell, O.C., Ferrell, L. & Fraedrich, J., 2017).

This chemical was used to quickly deforest Vietnamese jungles and it contained dioxin. This

compound is extremely carcinogenic, and many soldiers were harmed because of it. Hundreds of

veteran soldiers started a legal fight against Monsanto, and the company agreed on paying 180

million dollars. Although this happened, many repercussions of this chemical compound continued

affecting the company for decades. Another scandal happened in 2002, when it was revealed that

Monsanto had been covering decades of environmental pollution (Barlett, D. & Steele, J., 2008).

For 40 years, the company had been throwing toxic waste into a creek in Anniston, Alabama. Also,

they were deposing polychlorinated biphenyl, a highly toxic chemical, into landfills in the area.

This chemical caused that fishes in the creek were deformed and that the population of the area

were intoxicated of this chemical. It was proved that the company knew about this contamination

since the 1960´s, but they did not make nothing to solve it. When this was discovered, Anniston

habitants demand the company. After the legal fight, Monsanto agreed to pay $700 million to more

than 20,000 Anniston residents. This kind of practices of the company exposed that through the

history Monsanto has not care of the environment and the organisms that live in it, including

humans.

Monsanto has produced a lot of different products through its history, from chemicals to

food. The first product they produced was the artificial sweetener saccharine, which is included in
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the Coca-Cola. They also sold, caffeine extract and vanillin for artificial vanilla flavoring, When

the World War started, the chemical industry raised, and they started to produce plastics,

agricultural chemicals and synthetic rubbers. Then in 1970’s, Monsanto started to produce

products obtained from the petroleum, fibers and packaging (Reference for Business, n.d.). At that

moment, Monsanto was considered as a responsible and innovative company, but two years after,

the scandals started when they created their first herbicide, Roundup and when the society discover

the chemical scandals. After this happened, Monsanto moved away from the chemical business

and focused on GM products. Despite this, in 2003 Monsanto’s image was ruined because of all

the scandals over GM products and practices through the years. Until then, they have developed

strategies to overcome this problem, but now there is a lot of concerning about the effects of their

products.

One of Monsanto´s most important products is a herbicide named Roundup. This herbicide

was created in 1974 and until then, it has had a great impact in the agriculture. This product kills

weeds and spares crops. But the increasing use of this herbicide in the past not only kill weeds, it

also kills the healthy plants. To avoid this, Monsanto created GM plants that are resistant to this

herbicide. Now, the farmers can use the Roundup herbicide without the fear of destroying their

plants. Monsanto now can gain profits from the GM plants and the herbicide. But the increasing

use of these products represent a great concern because of big environmental risks. Between these

risks, there is the toxicity of the glyphosate and other “inert” components that are used to produce

the Roundup herbicide. Scientists have been studying this herbicide and they discover many health

consequences of the use of this herbicide that affect animals, plants and humans, in the last case

from cancer to chronic kidney disease (15 Health Problems Linked to Monsanto's Roundup, 2015).
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Monsanto designed this herbicide without considering its effects and it has never been redesigned

to evite these health problems.

Since the early century, Monsanto has focused more on GM products, specifically on

genetically modified plant seeds. These seeds have changed the agricultural industry. The

company hase developed drought-tolerant seeds and seeds that produce their own pesticide and

herbicide. Now, this has allowed farmers to grow more plants on less land and with less left to

chance. But this genetically modified seeds are not without critics. GMO opposers are concerned

about the impact they can have on the environment, altering the ecological balance. This

genetically modified plants could kill insects that interfere in the process of pollination. This alters

the hole balance of an ecosystem because the lack of pollination will produce a decrease in the

number of some plants that are essential in the survival of some animals and insects. Because of

this, biodiversity of animals and plants could be affected. In addition to this, they could produce

other harmful effects like the development of “super” insects and a reduction in the biodiversity

of plants.

Nowadays, many people and institutions are concerned about the safety of GM food

produced by Monsanto. Many people think that it has a negative impact on the health of animals

and humans. Skeptics believe that health implications of GM food may not be known for years to

come. The modified genes of seeds could create small changes that might impact the health. While

the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) has declared that GM plants are safe to consume,

some scientists claimed that the long-term effects have not been studied. According to Gustin, G.

(2012), a controversial study exposed that rats fed with Monsanto corn had higher rates of tumors,

kidney and liver damage and premature death. This study caused repudiation to transgenic
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Monsanto’s products and demonstrates that Monsanto’s has not studied correctly the effects of its

product on the organisms.

Another concern is the toxicity due to the Roundup herbicide. Some GM seeds allow plants

to produce their own Roundup herbicide. The ingest of this herbicide in GM food caused

detrimental effects due to the presence of glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient. Glyphosate

exposure is the third most reported illness among California agriculture workers and its residues

can last for a year (Ferrell, O. et. al., 2017). Roundup herbicide presence has been documented in

food, water, air and soil, so it has a great potential to harm all kinds of organisms. According to a

scientific study, glyphosate can cause healthy problems such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, breast

cancer, diabetes, hypothyroidism, among other illnesses disease (15 Health Problems Linked to

Monsanto's Roundup, 2015). Yet some health and environmental institutions list that glyphosate

exposure does not create risks for organisms, there are many proofs that point that glyphosate can

cause detrimental effects on humans and animals.

There are also many concerns about the environmental effects of Monsanto’s products.

One of the most important consequences of its products is that Seeds “Round Ready” can be

harmful to birds, insects and amphibians. Small concentrations of Roundup are deadly to tadpoles,

and this is preoccupant because some frog and toad species are in danger of extinction.

Furthermore, Round Ready herbicide deposes on water and it could affect the animals that live in

there. In a test of Monsanto polluted waters, some fishes were exposed to this water, 25 lost

equilibrium and turned on their sides in only 10 seconds (Barlett, D. et. al., 2008). So, this product

is harmful to several animal species and through the years Monsanto has not yet make a conscious

study of its effects on the animals.

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Another effect of Roundup herbicide is that, it has a detrimental effect on human cells,

especially embryonic, umbilical, and placental cells. High levels of glyphosate can cause

reproductive problems to humans and animals, including delayed puberty, decreased sperm

production and decreased testosterone production. It also causes birth defects, glyphosate can

disrupt Vitamin A (retinoic acid), a compound that is very important in normal fetal development

(15 Health Problems Linked to Monsanto's Roundup, 2015). In addition, activists believe that the

company’s suppression of research is behind increasing number of allergies and auto-inmune

diseases with its genetically modified organisms (Carr, K., 2014). It is suspected that Monsanto

has been falsifying data of Roundup’s safety. The company has marked its products as

environmentally friendly products, but this is a main contradiction because of all the studies that

demonstrate the opposite.

Environmental contamination is another concerning of GM Monsanto’s products. Some

insects and wind can carry GM seeds to other areas where fields contain non-GM plants. The

characteristics of GM plants could mix with the ones of non-GM plants. This environmental

contamination is a serious threat because some scientists have the fear of creating new genetic

variations in plants that could cause a negative effect on ecosystems (Ferrell, O. et. al., 2017). One

example of this contamination occurred in Mexico. A study stated that GM was found over 90%

of tortillas sold in Mexico (Mexico News Daily, 2017). In Mexico there are many products

produced with corn and it is traditionally likely that these products are GM-free. This study was

surprising because it is supposed that cultivation of genetically modified corn is not allowed in

Mexico and 60 corn Mexican varieties could be in risk of being contaminated. Because of this,

they argue that the most probable cause could be the genetically contamination of Mexican corn.

Monsanto has claimed that the environmental impact of its products has been studied by the EPA
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and other environmental organizations, but it has been demonstrated that the environment could

be affected negatively. Biodiversity of plants could be in serious risk because of this new form of

contamination and it could finish with the existence of free GM plants.

Another problem of Monsanto’s products is the increasing insect resistance to Monsanto’s

pesticides. The overuse of this products has produced that “super insects” emerged. This problem

with insects is just getting started. To combat this issue, farmers create “refuges” with free GM

plants, they plant 20% of their fields with these plants. It is supposed that with this strategy

nonresistant bugs will reproduce with those that are resistant, so that “super insects” do not emerge.

However, the farmers usually do not take the time to apply this strategy and they rotate one type

of Roundup crop with another type of Roundup crop. This allows super insects to multiply and

attack the fields.

This problem is also allowing the development of super resistant weeds. According to a

research from the University of Virginia, the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops

has increased the use of weed-killing herbicides as weeds become more resistant (Newman,

C.,2016). Weeds are becoming more resistant and farmers now are using more chemicals to

eliminate them. These chemicals sometimes seriously contaminate water and land fields causing

even more damage to the organisms that live there. Also, weeds are becoming more resistant to

Roundup herbicide, so Monsanto decided to develop a new herbicide called Dicamba and Dicamba

resistant seeds. But, farmers have been in trouble for this new herbicide. Newman, C. stated that

the herbicide Dicamba is damaging the fields, even if the plants are supposed to be resistant to this

herbicide (2016). For this reason, Monsanto has been in trouble with the farmers that use this

herbicide. This demonstrates that Monsanto researches are inefficient, the company does not study

correctly the effects of its own products on the environment.

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In recent years Latin America, Africa and Asia are concerned because of this Monsanto’s

problems. In these places transgenic plantations have expanded the most, but farmers in these

countries are not well informed of the probable effects of Monsanto’s products (Bravo, E., &

Naranjo, A., 2016). Consequently, the effects that have been previously discussed in this paper

have affected the most to these countries’ environments. People in these countries does not know

how these products can influence the health of organisms and the environment. Monsanto has not

yet take any action to prevent this and the situation is turning more preoccupant while more time

is passing out.

On the other hand, Monsanto company maintains that the environmental impact of every

product it creates is environmentally friendly. Their products have been studied by recognized

organizations such as the FDA, the EPA, the New York Medical College, among others. Also,

Monsanto argues that the company is focusing on sustainable agriculture. They have developed

seeds that need less water and less space to grow plants, saving water, reducing deforestation and

increasing the emission of greenhouse gases. They are also working on new biotechnology that

works with indigenous bacteria to operate as environmental cleanup biosystem (Hails, R., 2009).

The role of these new plants would be to accumulate or metabolize soil contaminants such as

mercury and produce compounds that are baneful with the ecosystem. Basing on these information,

Monsanto has claimed to be an environmentally responsible company.

Although Monsanto has begun to take actions to improve its image, the history of the

company, involved in many environmental scandals, demonstrates the truth. First, chemicals found

in their products are harmful to the environment. Glyphosate, the most used chemical of Monsanto,

produces effects that affect al kind of organisms healthy, even humans. Secondly, it has been

occulting the effects of their products. The company argues that their products have been approved
Environmental Responsibility of Monsanto 10

by health organizations, but several studies have demonstrated that some of their products are not

safe to consume. There are proofs that demonstrate these products can cause from reproductive

problems to cancer. This is a big contradiction and it affects more the reputation of the company.

Also, they need to develop more efficient studies for the effects of their products. The inefficiency

of the researching performed by Monsanto has caused that these environmental problems grow,

especially long-term effects have not been investigated adequately, such as health problems and

the increasing resistance of weeds and insects. Finally, Monsanto’s products and practices are also

affecting ecosystems balance. The development of super resistant organisms, the contamination of

plant species and the elimination of beneficial insects and animals due to Monsanto’s practices

and products affects ecosystem’s equilibrium. When ecosystems are altered, all its parts get

affected causing greater negative effects in it. For these reasons, Monsanto must not be considered

an environmentally responsible company.

In conclusion, Monsanto has performed several actions to deal with some environmental

problems and to improve its image, but the effects of their products and the company’s scandals

demonstrate that it is an environmentally irresponsible company. Environmental concerns are

becoming more important because of the increasing population of the world. Our interaction with

wildlife habitants has turned into an area of concern. Usually companies that do not consider the

care of the environment pay later by losing profits and reputation. Monsanto’s behavior has not

yet aligned with this belief. Its actions represent a perfect example of an unethical and irresponsible

organization. The power of the company due to the increasing necessity of its products contribute

to this unethical conduct. In recent years, the company has made a greater effort to change this

situation, but to achieve this goal they need a complete change in their products. In order to change

this, the code of ethics of the company and the protocols of their production should be redesigned
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so that the company can become a better organization that respects the environment. When

Monsanto gets that goal of being environmentally responsible, it is possible that it could be more

successful that it is right now and it could be able to get more profits. Or would like to buy or

consume their products knowing that you are contributing to damage the environment and that you

can even develop serious health problems?

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References

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from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/05/monsanto200805

Bravo, E., & Naranjo, A. (2016). América latina fumigada y crisis de las commodities. el caso

del glifosato de monsanto. Ciencia Política, 11(21) Retrieved from

http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/1837594045?accountid=1230

Carr, K. (2014, May 25). Protesting monsanto, GMOs. Journal - Gazette Retrieved from

http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/152

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Ferrell, O.C., Ferrell, L. & Fraedrich, J. (2017) Business Ethics. Ethical decision making and

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Gustin, G. (2012, Sep 20). Roundup study sparks debate; tumors found in rats given monsanto's

roundup and genetically modified corn; BUSINESS. St.Louis Post - Dispatch Retrieved

from

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Hails, R. (2009). Environmental Impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

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dicamba-weed-killer.html
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Mexico News Daily. (2017, September 20). GM corn found in over 90% of tortillas in MX.

Retrieved from https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/gm-corn-found-in-over-90-of-

tortillas-in-mx/

Newman, C. (2016, Sept 14). Largest-Ever Study Reveals Environmental Impact Of

Genetically Modified Crops. University Of Virginia. Retrieved

from https://news.virginia.edu/content/largest-ever-study-reveals-environmental-impact-

genetically-modified-crops

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