Study: Glyphosate in human urine increases 500% over 10 years

A study published in JAMA tracked people over the age of 50 in Southern California from 1993-1996 to 2014-2016. Urine samples were collected over the time period to measure levels of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). They found that the percentage of people who tested positive for glyphosate increased over 500% in that time period. Glyphosate usage also increased by 1208% during this time period, making it very unlikely that this was just a coincidence. (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2658306)

Crops sprayed with glyphosate may surprise you: almonds, avocados, cherries, corn, grapes, grapefruit, peanuts, pecans, rice, soy beans, spinach, sugar beets, walnuts, wheat. (https://www.cornucopia.org/2016/05/widespread-use-glyphosate-food-supply/)

There are no known safe levels of glyphosate a person can eat.

This link also shows what percent of crops are sprayed with glyphosate: https://livelovefruit.com/what-crops-are-sprayed-with-glyphosate/. There are 70 crops here sprayed with glyphosate. Organic crops can also be tainted by overspray from a neighboring field, or from water used by the organic farm that is downstream from a non-organic farm that uses glyphosate.

Here are the results of studies listing which percent of people tested positive for glyphosate in their bodies. (https://www.moyoway.com/europes-top-5-glyphosate-herbicide-toxic-countries.html) Malta (90%), Germany (70%), Great Britain (70%) and Poland (70%) had the most percent of people with glyphosate in their bodies. They don't have to grow crops that are sprayed with glyphosate, crops that are tainted can be imported from other countries.

Animal tests show that up to 30% of glyphosate is absorbed into the body. A week later, there is still about 1% remaining.

Monsanto defrauding consumers since at least 1969.

As a plaintiff, in 1969, Monsanto sued Rohm and Haas for infringement of Monsanto's patent for the herbicide propanil. In Monsanto Co. v. Rohm and Haas Co., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Monsanto on the basis that the company had fraudulently procured the patent it sought to enforce.

Monsanto argues, the principle behind a farmer’s seed contract is simple: a business must be paid for its product., but that a very small percentage of farmers do not honor this agreement. While many lawsuits involve breach of Monsanto's Technology Agreement, farmers who have not signed this type of contract, but do use the patented seed, can also be found liable for violating Monsanto's patent. Monsanto has stated it will not "exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seed or traits are present in farmer's fields as a result of inadvertent means." However, history shows this is not true as Monsanto has sued farmers, and won, when pollen from nearby GMO seed mixed with the farmer's plants, the seed of which had some patented genes. These farmers had to sell their whole farm to pay fines, and court costs.

Monsanto has also been sued for effects from Agent Orange, pollution from dioxin, polychlorinate biphenyls (PCBs), alachlor (a common pesticide), and dicamba.

Source
Wikipedia.

700+ cases in US federal court alone over glyphosate

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup weed kill.

FEDERAL COURT – More than 760 lawsuits are pending in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The cases have been combined for handling as multidistrict litigation (MDL) under Judge Vince Chhabria. The lead case is 3:16-md-02741-VC and the first trial, the case of Edwin Hardeman V. Monsanto, began Feb. 25, 2019. The judge approved a motion by Monsanto to bifurcate the trial, limiting evidence jurors will hear during a first phase to causation only. Update March 19: a unanimous jury decision handed a first-round victory to plaintiff Edwin Hardeman, as the six jury members found that Hardeman’s exposure to Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

STATE COURT – Thousands of plaintiffs have made similar claims against Monsanto in state courts. The first trial in the Roundup litigation concluded on Aug. 10 with the jury ruling that Monsanto’s weedkiller was a substantial contributing factor in causing DeWayne “Lee” Johnson’s cancer, and ordering Monsanto to pay $289.25 million in damages, including $250 million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the punitive damages to $39 million in an order dated Oct. 22, 2018 which put the total verdict at approximately $78 million. Monsanto declared it would appeal and Johnson has cross appealed, seeking to reinstate the jury award.The appeal is filed in the California State Court of Appeals, case number A155940. Appellant’s opening brief due April 22, 2019.


Sources
US Right To Know, Monsanto Papers.
DDG search for more lawsuits against Monstanto.

Monsanto lawsuit update, $289 million payment

Monsanto ordered to pay $289 million in cancer lawsuit. A recent Monsanto lawsuit outcome feels like a win for the people. Finally. More than two years after the World Health Organization labeled the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” the court system ruled the billion-dollar company is liable for its product’s potentially cancer-causing effects.

On August 9, 2018, a San Francisco jury found Monsanto liable in the first of more than 800 cancer-patient cases against the agricultural giant. Dewayne Johnson, 46, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a term that’s used to describe a group of cancers that develop in the lymphocytes, or white blood cells that make up the immune system. His case was the first to go to court because of his terminal condition, which granted him an expedited trial.

1985 EPA memo says glyphosate causes kidney tumors

A recently found archived document form 1985 shows, before the EPA was bought off by Monsanto, that the EPA thought glyphosate caused kidney tumors. Monsanto claims tumors are unrelated to glyphosate exposure by showing past studies. EPA claims past studies have too much variation to nullify the no tumor claim.

Sources
PDF here. Get it before it's taken down! Alt link: https://web.archive.org/web/20180131074049/https://archive.epa.gov/pesticides/chemicalsearch/chemical/foia/web/pdf/103601/103601-170.pdf

U.S. experts doubt EPA curbs on Monsanto, BASF herbicides will halt crop damage

US specialists doubt that reducing the sale of dicamba, sold by Monsanto and BASF, will actually slow down crop damage. Monsanto is releasing dicamba-resistant soy beans. Does dicamba get into every cell, so that it ends up in the food system?

Overspray of dicamba, trade name Xtend, to neighboring fields is responsible for millions of dollars in crop damage. Depending on soil conditions, Roundup can remain in the soil for up to 4 years, damaging future years of crops. Does dicamba do the same?

Links
Article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-agriculture-dicamba/u-s-experts-doubt-epa-curbs-on-monsanto-basf-herbicides-will-halt-crop-damage-idUSKBN1CI21K

Monsanto tries to get Seralini study retracted

The study by GE Seralini showed that even low amounts of Roundup had toxic effects on rats over the long-term. This includes liver and kidney damage. Seralini's other study where rats got tumors was done incorrectly as they used a type of rat that is supposed to get tumors.

Extract from a Monsanto employee review:

Goal: 
PROMOTE GLYPHOSATE FREEDOM TO OPERATE THROUGH PROACTIVE ENGAGEMENT OF EXPERTS, TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RESPONSES TO THIRD PARTY ALLEGATIONS.

2. In effort to enhance global long-term scientific outreach and freedom to operate, coordinate (i) an initial South American Toxicology Expert Panel meeting in Buenos Aires by the end of FY2013 and (ii) the 2012 EU. Glyphosate Expert Advisory Panel meeting in Harrogate, UK 8/9 November, 2012.

Employee comment: 
2 (ii) coordinated the November EU Expert Panel meeting which provided opportunity for valuable interaction with experts and peers, consolidating strategies in addressing activist publications (eg. Seralini and Earth Open Source) and industry sponsored technical publications supporting FTO and glyphosate EU Annex I Renewal.


Source
GMO Inside.
The Monsanto memo in PDF form, document name FY2013. This looks like an employee review of David Anthony Saltmiras.

Evidence Monsanto tried to bribe scientists

Roundup is a big money maker for Monsanto so it's no surprise that more evidence that Monsanto tried to influence writes and bribe scientists has come to light.

From this website, attorneys asked to see Monsanto's "protected documents". The more Monsanto tries to push, the more it looks like people are on the right track to exposing corruption. Quote:

On June 30, 2017, attorneys from Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, along with the leadership of the Roundup multidistrict litigation (MDL), challenged the protection of the documents below, in an effort to make them available to the public. In a meeting to discuss the matter, Monsanto told the plaintiffs’ attorneys to “go away” and that the company would not voluntarily agree to de-designate any documents.

The challenged documents are here, and in PDF form.

Source
GMO Inside.

FDA resumes testing foods for glyphosate

1. The FDA is one of very few labs that can handle testing of lots of foods. But they need to release the data too, like the amount of glyphosate found in ppm. Very much like lead, there is no safe limit where a person can be exposed to glyphosate. The EPA limits of glyphosate exposure are fake, disingenuous, and dangerous. 
2. Investigation started about collusion between top EPA official and Monsanto. Some people suspect data was cooked or data unfavorable to Monsanto was simply omitted in testing reports.
3. A group of 20 scientists and doctors say glyphosate is not safe at any level.

Source
Huffington Post.

1985 memo: Monsanto suspected glyphosate caused cancer

Twitter pic.

The letter is as follows:

April 3, 1985

To: T. F. Evans

The following item of information is in addition to those included in the current monthly report.

Senior management at EPA is reviewing a proposal to classify glyphosate as a class C "possible human carcinogen" because of kidney adenonomas in male mice. Dr. Marvin Kuschner will review kidney sections and present his evaluation of them to EPA in an effort to persuade the agency that the observed tumors are not related to glyphosate.

George J. Levinskas

cc: G Rousch Jr MD

El Salvador bans Roundup and gets record harvest!

1. In September 2013, El Salvador passed a ban on 53 crop protection products for agricultural use. Among them, the large coffee, cotton, maize and sugarcane producing country was pulling off Roundup (glyphosate), a Monsanto star herbicide, recently listed as a "probable carcinogen" by the World Health Organization (WHO).
2. GMO seeds cannot be saved from old crops, they must be purchased every year, leading to an increased cost for the farmers.
3. The GMO seeds were not adapted to the locality. 
4. They are using H-29 maize instead.

Source

Link in French.
Link in English via Google Translate.

Monsanto used army of shills to stop negative comments?

At least one news site is reporting that Monsanto used an army of shills to crack down on people who posted negative things about Monsanto or its products.

The case challenges Monsanto’s corrupt relationship with members of the Environmental Protection Agency and their attempts to manipulate scientific publications and crack down on online dissent. Monsanto’s ‘Let Nothing Go’ campaign allegedly hired online ‘shills’ to quickly respond to social media chatter about the carcinogenic properties of their ‘RoundUp’ product.  

1. Not much surprise if Monsanto colluded with EPA. EPA fired a scientist who started talking about the dangers of toxic sludge being put on farms all over America.  
2. The EPA claims Bt is safe for people when research shows otherwise (studies at link). 
3. EPA toxicity levels for neonics in water are far too lax.
4. Monsanto even claimed PCBs were safe right up to the last lawsuit. 
5. And Monsanto exec admits they faked study data.

Read more here.

Monsanto faces more new cancer lawsuits

Monsanto is facing more lawsuits, and a bundle of 3 lawsuits was filed in St. Louis recently. The claim is glyphosate exposure caused them to get non-Hodgkins lymphoma, for which there is some correlation to glyphosate exposure.

This graph of correlation shows how closely the studies found glyphosate exposure was related to certain illnesses. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the most correlated.

To make this graph, many studies were reviewed. Dots on the right hand side of the graph show more correlation of glyphosate exposure to cancer. NHL has the most studies, with the most correlation to glyphosate exposure.

Source
Ecowatch.

Monsanto defeated re: PCBs

PCBs are highly toxic to people and the environment, and Monsanto has been dodging lawsuits for decades. PCBs were banned by the EPA in 1979. Various cities, like Portland, and even Washington state, want Monsanto to pay for cleanup costs. Monsanto didn't want to be responsible for chemicals it no longer manufactures. Monsanto requested a judge for a motion to dismiss lawsuits but the motion was denied, and the lawsuits continue.


Source
Ecowatch.

Second class action lawsuit against Monsanto for dicamba damage

2/16/2017

A new class action lawsuit against Monsanto, in US district court in Missouri, is about damage from dicamba. Even small amounts of dicamba are dangerous to crops, and can directions advise triple rinsing dicamba tanks and carefully disposing of rinse water. Even spray that drifts from one property to another can kill many crops costing the farmers a lot of money.

Monsanto's Xtend cotton and soybeans are resistant to dicamba, and so farmers spray them to control weeds. But spray drift can kill neighboring farmers' crops.

A Missouri bill wants to stop illegal dicamba use. And farmers must be careful about spraying in windy conditions.

Source
Progressive Farmer.

Low levels of Roundup cause liver disease in rats

A long-term, low-dose study by Seralini and others shows Roundup causes liver disease in female rats. The study took 2 years and...

The dose selected was below what people are commonly exposed to in the everyday environment and 75,000 times below what is permitted by EU regulators.

The study found Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the rates. NAFLD is found in 20% of the general population today, making people wonder if there's a link between Roundup (which contains more chemicals than just glyphosate) and NAFLD. Naturally, a study was warranted. In a previous study, even rats given 0.1ppb (parts per billion!) over 2 years showed liver damage. In the current study, 214 proteins out of 1906 were "disturbed". That's 11.2%. But hundreds of proteins being disrupted is still very bad.


Sources
EurActive. Jan 11, 2017.
The study in Nature. Backup link at archive.is.

Monsanto corn damaged intestines

Monsanto's GM corn MON810 has damaged rat intestines, according to a new study stored at the NIH. Damaged intestines can lead to poor nutrient uptake, leading to a host of diseases and conditions, although the symptoms may be subtle. This GM corn contained delta toxins, the same emitted by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

Source
GM Watch. 2016-11-24.
Study at the NIH. 2016-11.

Glyphosate found in children's vaccines

Glyphosate has been found in childhood vaccines and has been confirmed by independent laboratories. These vaccines were found to contain glyphosate in the ppb range: MMR (Merk) II, DTAP Adacel (Sanofi Pasteur), Influenza Fluvirin (Novaris), HepB-Energix-B (Glaxo Smith Kline), Pneumonoccal Vax Polyvalent Pneumovax 23 (Merk).

There are more and more studies that show even low amounts of glyphosate are toxic to mammals and other animals.Go to this collection of studies and look for a tag like "glyphosate". This page has links to more collections of studies about glyphosate and other pesticides.


Source
Ecowatch.

Indian court blocks GMO mustard!

India leads the way with blocking GMO seeds and plants and this latest decision by an Indian court blocks GMO mustard seed from being grown. Indians are committing suicide due to the high cost of GMO seed. When they use GMO seed they have to buy seed every year, they cannot save seed on their own. The Indian farmers are having so many financial problems with GMO seed they are committing suicide in record numbers from the crushing Monsanto debt.

This site says GMO seeds are not linked to suicides and there is no good source for this statement. This statement was traced back to Vandana Shiva, who is an Indian environmentalist who has said repeatedly that Monsanto’s “suicide seeds” have triggered a “genocide” in India.

More info

1. More stories on mustard seed in India.
2. "Rising rates of suicide blamed on GMO seed". Smaller farms suffer the most. The problem with GMO seeds in India is that they are often “not bred for that area, for rain-fed agriculture, so they fail more frequently,”

Tensions rise in Missouri Bootheel due to drifting GMO pollen

Malden, Missouri.Dicamba spray drift is killing crops of farmers who didn't plant dicamba-resistant GMO strains. Last year (2015) Monsanto released strains of dicamba-resistant soybeans and cotton, but the form of dicamba used on these GMO crops has not been approved by the EPA yet.

The southeast region of the state is a part of a multistate swath where damage from suspected illegal herbicide drift has slashed yields for farmers who did not plant crops resistant to the herbicide, dicamba. Fallout from the damage is pitting neighbor against neighbor and straining, or simply ruining, relationships in the area’s tight-knit farming communities.

Insurance companies do not cover losses sustained from pesticide spray drift, meaning civil suits are the only way farmers can recoup losses. Losses can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars (USD). The amount of coverage a farmer can buy is the average of crops harvested during the last 10 years. If overspray is killing their crops year after year, the insurance they can get drops, year after year.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been lost due to spray drift.

Source
STL Today.