Experts Ask World to Help Ban Monsanto’s Cancer-Linked Glyphosate

In an open letter to China, ten European non-profit groups have asked the Chinese people to take action to help clean up the world food supply which has been contaminated with Round Up and glyphosate chemicals.

The action was inspired by the recent World Health Organization Cancer Panel that declared glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen” for humans. The letter was written to the Chinese Embassy, and addressed to the Chinese people because the country is the world’s largest producer of glyphosate (even though it is largely sprayed on crops in the US and elsewhere.) China is also the world’s largest importer of Round-up Ready GMO soy.

GM soy has been found to contaminate the entire food chain with traces of glyphosate, from the plant, to the animal who feeds on it, all the way to human embryos. Glyphosate traces have even been found in our blood, urine, and mother’s breast milk.

In the open letter, the NGOs refer to this recent statement by the Argentinian Federation of Health Professionals  which represents 30,000 members:

“Glyphosate not only causes cancer. It is also associated with increased spontaneous abortions, birth defects, skin diseases, and respiratory and neurological disease.”

The doctors of Argentina who have accumulated first-hand experience over many years of glyphosate causing disease made this declaration. This, in part, is what has driven the ban on glyphosate in their country.

Other countries are eager to ban glyphosate as well especially where the chemical is used as a pre-harvest dessicant on grain and other crops.

Furthermore, the NGOs attest that the original consent to use glyphosate was given by country’s who were either ill-informed of the toxic effects, or who were subjects of scientific fraud.

They point out that the safety research reports on glyphosate (Roundup) are impossible for independent experts to scrutinize because Monsanto has asked for them all to be treated as trade secrets.

Chinese authorities are now asked to pressure Monsanto to give access to these studies, some of which are more than 35 years old but which contain evidence of malignant tumours among test animals given small quantities of glyphosate in their food supplies.

Those who have signed the open letter are asking the Chinese government to stop the production and sale of glyphosate (Round Up) without delay, and to freeze the imports of Roundup Ready food products from the United States, Argentina, and Brazil.

Additionally, they call for glyphosate testing (for example, in human urine and breast milk) and an epidemiological study designed to test the impact of glyphosate/Roundup on human health.

Speaking on behalf of the signatories, Dr Brian John said:

 “We believe that we are acting here on behalf of the citizens of Europe, who have grave concerns about GMOs and the chemicals that go with them into the food chain.  We have been convinced for years of the growing negative impact of glyphosate/Roundup on public health, and there is constant pressure on both sides of the Atlantic for these lethal chemicals to be taken off the market.

However, there are many political and commercial obstacles to change; and this is why we are appealing to one of the largest economies in the world to kick-start the process of cleaning up the global food supply system and protecting the health of the people of the planet.”

Speaking for the group “Beyond GM” Pat Thomas added:

“We’ve spent far too long pretending that GMOs are somebody else’s problem; that in the EU we are somehow protected or immune from their damaging effects. GMOs are a worldwide problem – a growing and global threat to health, environment and food security and we need those in power to heed years of accumulated and alarming evidence and act responsibly to solve the problem.

We cannot rely on America, which has for too long acted as the de facto marketing arm of the biotech industry, to act responsibly. But, as one of largest economies in the world, China has the power to change the game and to act as if the future matters.”

Additional Sources:

Photo credit: GreenMedInfo