UK Parliament Meets to Discuss Dangers of World’s Best Selling Herbicide: RoundUp

The London House of Parliament hosted a meeting attended by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agroecology, Chaired by the Countess of Mar just weeks ago to discuss one of the world’s best-selling herbicide’s and its dangers to the public – Monsanto’s Roundup.

This was perhaps the most comprehensive meeting of UK government officials ever held in Europe, which included experts from all over the world to discuss glyphosate and RoundUp specifically. The scientific evidence of many was presented to the media, members of UK political parties, non-profit organizations, and members of the general public.

It was clear that this topic is of concern to many individuals, as the House of Parliament Room 10 was busting at the seams with experts that had traveled from as far as Russia, China, and the U.S. to listen to four different speakers present on the subject. Many of the unanswered questions about glyphosate were addressed; outlining the harm that glyphosate is causing people, animals, and our environment. Solutions to the prevalent use of glyphosate were also discussed.

The meeting outlined the use of glyphosate not just as an agricultural chemical (to dessicate cereal fed to farm animals, as an herbicide for soya, maize, and cotton crops, and more,) but also for weed control for homes, golf courses, and in horticulture around the world. The presenters pointed out that both humans and animals are at risk of exposure due to such prevalent use of glyphosate. The presentations confirmed that glyphosate is being found in human blood, urine, and in breast milk.

The presenters suggested that while glyphosate is presented as a harmless chemical that becomes inactive once it is in soil, it is in fact very dangerous, interfering with plant enzymes, soil microbes, and plant growth. It can also bind (chelate) trace metals with its imbred antibiotic action, leeching important nutrients from our soil, and food. When used with other chemicals sold to farmers and gardeners, the chemical’s effects are often compounded.

In summary, they agreed that glyphosate is anything but safe, and is in fact harming our ecosystem, and human life as the industrial agricultural model of farming requires ever-more herbicide use.

The full presentations made by the four members who presented from the APPG Agroecology meeting can be seen below. Please note that these are PDF files on the file sharing system Dropbox. Two of them should be able to be viewed without downloading the PDFs, while two require a download. Enjoy.

Dr. Don M. Huber – Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology at Purdue University

Professor Malcolm Hooper – Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sunderland

Dr. John Peterson “Pete” Myers – Founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of Environmental Health Sciences

Dr. Michael Antoniou – Reader in Molecular Genetics and Head of the Gene Expression and Therapy Group, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King’s College London School of Medicine, UK.