{"id":40466,"date":"2014-03-03T12:17:41","date_gmt":"2014-03-03T12:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=40466"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:11:01","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:11:01","slug":"five-new-reasons-monsantos-science-doesnt-add-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/03\/five-new-reasons-monsantos-science-doesnt-add-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Five New Reasons Monsanto\u2019s \u2018Science\u2019 Doesn\u2019t Add Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Irina<\/a>

Irina Ermakova, a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Scientists, joins GMO Free Midwest picket. (photo: Don Fitz)<\/p><\/div>\n

To hear the pesticide and junk food marketers of the world tell it<\/a>, anyone who questions the value, legitimacy or safety of GMO crops is na\u00efve, anti-science and irrational to the point of hysteria.<\/p>\n

But how long can Monsanto ignore the mounting actual scientific evidence that their technology is not only failing to live up to its promises, it\u2019s putting public health at risk?<\/p>\n

Jim Goodman, farmer, activist and member of the Organic Consumers Association<\/a> policy advisory board, recently wrote<\/a> about Monsanto\u2019s deceptive use of the expression \u201csound science.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, \u2018sound science\u2019 has no scientific definition. It does not mean peer reviewed, or well documented research. \u2018Sound science\u2019 is only a term, an ideological term, used to support a particular point of view, policy statement or a technology. \u2018Sound science\u2019 is little more than the opinions of so-called \u201cexperts\u201d representing corporate interests.<\/i><\/p>\n

Simply put, \u2018sound science\u2019 always supports the position of industry over people, corporate profit over food safety, the environment and public health.<\/p>\n

Here are five new reports and studies, published in the last two months, that blow huge holes in Monsanto\u2019s \u201csound science\u201d story. Reports of everything from Monsanto\u2019s Roundup causing fatal, chronic kidney disease to how, contrary to industry claims, Roundup persists for years, contaminating soil, air and water. And oh-by-the-way, no, GMO crops will not feed the world, nor have they reduced the use of herbicides and pesticides.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 Monsanto\u2019s Roundup linked to fatal, chronic kidney disease. <\/b>Article<\/a> in Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health<\/i>, February 2014<\/p>\n

What happens when you mix glyphosate<\/a>, the key active ingredient in Monsanto\u2019s Roundup, with \u201chard\u201d water? That is, water that contains metals, such as calcium, magnesium, strontium and iron, either found naturally in the soil, or resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers?<\/p>\n

The glyphosate becomes \u201cextremely toxic\u201d to the kidneys.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the theory<\/a> put forth by researchers trying to uncover the mystery of thousands of deaths from chronic kidney disease among people in farming areas of Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Monsanto\u2019s Roundup persists in soil and water.\u00a0<\/b>U.S. Geological Survey report<\/a> in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry<\/i>, February 2014<\/p>\n

Monsanto has always insisted (despite evidence<\/a> to the contrary) that its Roundup herbicide is benign, that its toxicity doesn\u2019t persist.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s only half the story, according to a study published this month in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Researchers now say that if you study only the key active ingredient, glyphosate, you might, as Monsanto claims, determine that Roundup is benign.<\/p>\n

But there are other ingredients in Roundup, including one called Aminomethylphosphonic acid, or AMPA. The study, called “Pesticides in Mississippi air and rain: A comparison between 1995 and 2007,” found that glyphosate and its still-toxic byproduct, AMPA, were found in over 75 percent of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007.<\/p>\n

What does that mean for you? According to one analysis<\/a>, \u201cif you were breathing in the sampled air you would be inhaling approximately 2.5 nanograms of glyphosate per cubic meter of air. It has been estimated the average adult inhales approximately 388 cubic feet or 11 cubic meters of air per day, which would equal to 27.5 nanograms (billionths of a gram) of glyphosate a day.\u201d Gasp.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 GMO crops have led to an increase in use of pesticides and herbicides.\u00a0<\/b>U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report<\/a>, February 2014.<\/p>\n

The USDA, which gauging from its track record has never met a GMO crop it didn\u2019t like, published a report substantiating what responsible, independent scientists have been saying along. Genetic engineering does not<\/i> result in increased yields (as industry would have us believe)\u2014but it has<\/i> led to the increased (not decreased, as industry claims) use of pesticides and herbicides.<\/p>\n

To be fair, the report gives overall favorable reviews to GMO crops. Not surprising, given the agency\u2019s cozy relationship<\/a> with Monsanto. But that makes it all the more telling that the once staunch-defender of GMO crops is now raising questions about industry\u2019s long-term, decidedly unproven and unscientific, claims that biotechnology is the best thing since sliced (GMO wheat) bread.<\/p>\n

Sustainable Pulse<\/i><\/a> does a good job of sifting through the USDA\u2019s report to reveal the agency\u2019s criticisms of GMO crops.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 Pesticides are more dangerous than we thought.<\/b>\u00a0 Article<\/a> in BioMed Research International<\/i>, February 2014<\/p>\n

More bad news<\/a> on pesticides. A study published in BioMed Research International<\/i> this month says that it\u2019s not just the toxic chemicals we need to worry about in pesticides. It\u2019s the inert ingredients, and how they interact with the active, toxic ingredients.<\/p>\n

Typically, studies conducted to determine the safety of pesticides focus exclusively on the active ingredients. But scientists at the University of Caen tested eight commercial products, including Roundup, and found that nine of them were hundreds of times more toxic than their active ingredient alone.<\/p>\n

Which product won the \u201cMost Toxic\u201d award? Monsanto\u2019s Roundup, which was found to be \u201cby far the most toxic of the herbicides and insecticides tested,\u201d according to the study.<\/p>\n

5. Small-Scale, organic farming needed to feed the world.<\/b> U.N. Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Wake Up Before It Is Too Late<\/i><\/a>, December 2013<\/p>\n

In December 2013, the U.N. Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the results of a lengthy, in-depth study that blows a huge hole in one of Monsanto\u2019s favorite claims, that we need GMOs to feed the world. The study, entitled Wake Up Before it is Too Late<\/i>, concluded with this warning: Small-scale organic farming is the only way to feed the world.<\/p>\n

According to an analysis<\/a> by one of the report\u2019s contributors, the report contains in-depth sections on the shift toward more sustainable, resilient agriculture; livestock production and climate change; the importance of research and extension; the role of land use; and the role of reforming global trade rules.<\/p>\n

More than 60 experts from around the world contributed to the report.<\/p>\n

Clearly the evidence\u2014real, scientific evidence\u2014against GMO crops is mounting, when five new anti-GMO studies and reports surface in a matter of a couple of months.<\/p>\n

How much more will it take before the USDA, U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stop supporting an industry under attack from the scientific community? And start putting public health before corporate profits?<\/p>\n

In December, more than 200 scientists, physicians, and experts from relevant fields, signed a statement<\/a> declaring that the biotech industry is deceiving the public when it claims that GMOs are safe. There is, the group said, no \u201cscientific consensus\u201d to support industry\u2019s claims that GMOs are safe.<\/p>\n

But as new studies surface every day, it\u2019s become increasingly clear that among credible physicians and scientists, the consensus is that we\u2019d better wake up, soon, to the risks and threats posed by a reckless technology that has been allowed to dominate our food and farming systems, unchecked, for far too long.
\n__________________________<\/p>\n

Katherine Paul is Associate Director of the Organic Consumers Association<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Ronnie Cummins is National Director of the Organic Consumers Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering Page<\/a>, and our Millions Against Monsanto Page<\/a><\/i>.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 organicconsumers.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As new studies surface it\u2019s become increasingly clear that among credible physicians and scientists the consensus is that we\u2019d better wake up to the risks and threats posed by a reckless technology that has been allowed to dominate our food and farming systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organic-gmo-genetic-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}