A glaring omission from almost all biotech discussions of genetically engineered crops is the fact that not one, but a host of chemicals is required to grow them. Perhaps the word ‘required’ is overwrought with cynicism, but “over 75 percent of GMO crops are engineered to tolerate being sprayed with herbicide.”
This means that if one were to honestly and accurately portray the safety of GM crops, they would also have to prove that the herbicides and pesticides used to grow them were also safe – at least generally speaking, with the GMOs we have today. They are manufactured, and marketed to be used in synergy.
When the biotech industry discusses new gene altering-techniques, not to be confused with traditional plant breeding, they rarely mention that DNA cloning, transgenic alteration, and even gene editing still don’t negate the industry reliance on dicamba, glyphosate, 2,4-D, Agent Orange, Paraquat, Atrazine, and tons more herbicides marketed under different names.
The biotech industry fails to mention in arguments about GM ‘safety’ that:
- Exposure to Dicamba may cause increased cancer risk (yeah, I know it was conclusive)
- Exposure to glyphosate causes birth defects and reproductive issues in both men and women, not excluding sterility (though their science will say otherwise)
- 2, 4-D, with a worldwide market of $300 million, causes kidney and liver damage as well as chronic toxicity in the body, among other health issues.
They fail to say a word about the fact that chemicals like Atrazine demasculinizes vertebrates, and causes ovaries to shrink.
There is no conversation worth having about GMOs that doesn’t also include a discussion of the WHO’s IARC declaration that glyphosate is likely carcinogenic, and so are numerous of the other herbicides used to grow genetically modified crops.
Read: 7 Nasty Effects of Pesticides
Though the USDA can continue to downplay its own scientific inquiry into Monsanto’s herbicide, 200 million pounds of Roundup was dumped in one year recently – and yet we look away when cancer rates, autism rates, gastrointestinal disease, neurological, immunological, and endocrine diseases are rising. Roundup was considered by some to be the ‘safest’ of Big Ag chemicals.
Germany, France, and other EU countries have banned the sale of glyphosate, just one of the many Big Ag chemicals being poured all over our food – GM particularly. But the global glyphosate market is expected to reach $8.79 billion by 2019.
The USDA continues to ignore farmer concerns, and has now given a green light to Dicamba-resistant seed. Use of this herbicide is expected to rise up to 500 times the current levels.
In a 2007 report from the EPA, we can see that herbicide use is escalating, despite environmental, biological, and socio-economic concerns. They have not released an accurate accounting of the use of agrochemicals in the past several years:
“In the United States, pesticide sales were approximately $12.5 billion at the user-level, which accounted for 32% of the nearly $40 billion world market in 2007. Pesticide use in the United States was 1.1 billion pounds in 2007, or 22% of the world estimate of 5.2 billion pounds of pesticide use.
- Total pounds of U.S. pesticide use decreased by approximately 8% from 1.2 to 1.1 billion pounds from 2000 to 2007 (but this does not account for rising herbicide use.)
- Approximately 857 million pounds of conventional pesticide active ingredient were applied in 2007.
- Organophosphate insecticide use decreased about 44% from 2002 to 2007, 63% from 2000 to 2007, and 55% from 1997 to 2007.
- About 33 million pounds of organophosphate insecticides were applied in 2007.
- Eighty percent of all U.S. pesticide use was in agriculture.
- Herbicides remained the most widely used type of pesticide in the agricultural market sector.
- Among the top 10 pesticides used in terms of pounds applied in the agricultural market were the herbicides glyphosate, atrazine, metolachlor-s, acetochlor, 2,4-D, and pendimethalin, and the fumigants metam sodium, dichloropropene, methyl bromide, and chloropicrin.
Herbicides were also the most widely used type of pesticide in the home and garden and industrial, commercial, and governmental market sectors, and the herbicides 2,4-D and glyphosate were the most widely used active ingredients.”
Why do we argue about GM seed when the stuff used to grow them is so insidious? This is the elephant in the room, but Monsanto, Bayer, Dow, and Syngenta would like you to ignore it altogether.
“The biotech industry almost never mentions the darker twin sister of GMOs – the pesticides that are paired with them.”
Additional Sources:
So let’s get this straight. The best argument little miss chrissy can make against gmos is that we use the same chemicals on them as we do non-gmos. Some herbicides we use more of and some we use less. And the worse thing she can say about the herbicides is that they are as bad as eating red meat.
Do you feel better now? And what kind of red meat are you referring to? Organic non-GMO or otherwise?
Julie said all red meat in her article.
It’s in the processing, that is what is being dismissed.
All meats are processed, but the corporate industrialized processing operations are using dangerous additives, so they ship the raw meats to foreign countries and have adults and children in their factories working for 95 cents a month and living at the same factories for $1.12 a month as indentured servants, which increases the profit margins. Didn’t you all see the recent article’s about the foreign factory workers, indentured servants, committing suicide?
This means that farm to market time is extended greatly and more additives are necessary to maintain the appearance of freshness, ie chemically induced freshness.
I tried to make that point earlier, but Stinky attempted to sidetrack the information.
I’m still researching the additives, seems to be some rather elusive information. I can vaguely remember formaldehyde as one of them, but I need to verify that info.
Shipping the meat to other countries for processing? Where do you dream up these fantasies? The article said RED MEAT. That includes going to your local butcher and having him cut a steak right in front of you. You are the one that keeps getting side tracked.
I’ll retract the outsourcing to foreign sources of meats portion of my comment. There isn’t much information on meats and processing, but I’ll keep looking.
This thread isn’t about red meat, so I’ll go to the proper thread and post what I’ve found.
Again, thanks Stinky for your usual positive comments.
I think your missing the point numby, all gmos are poison to dna. The herbicides and pesticides are the dressing on the death salad. But you should keep eating all of it to maintain that high cognitive ability. ;D
Lets see you have zero research to back up that, and gmos have twenty years worth of real world applications verifying their safety. Game over.
All GMO research has been classified a proprietary, intellectual,
property, therefore the developers have control of who views it. You already know this.
The verification of safety at this point would come from the medical
sciences. Historical and geographical studies, as well as GMO labeling,
would reveal the true picture with proper medical analysis and relevant
information.
Are you putting Monsanto in your vagina? 85% of tampons and feminine
hygiene products contaminated with cancer-causing glyphosate herbicide
naturalnews dot com/051669_tampons_glyphosate_GMO_cotton.html
The original purpose of his research was not to test
products for glyphosate, but to see how far the chemical can spread when
aircraft sprayed an area, such as cropland.
“There is a basic premise in research that when we complete testing on out target we have to contrast it with something ‘clean,’ so we selected sterile
gauze for medical use, found in pharmacies,” he said.
“So we went and bought sterile gauze, opened the packages, analyzed and
there was the huge surprise: We found glyphosate! Our first thought was
that we had done something wrong, so we threw it all away and bought new
gauze, analyzed them and again found glyphosate.”
rt dot com/usa/319524-tampons-cotton-glyphosate-monsanto/
Instead of trying to scare people why don’t you actually list the numbers? They found .004 micrograms/gram. Scary isn’t it. Let’s put that into reality. Soil that has never had glyphosate applied to it, tests .005 micrograms/gram. Again, if you get your information from people like Mike Adams or Chrissy, there is a good chance you will be wrong 100% of the time.
Thanks for letting the readers know that information and truth is scary, especially if it gives them informed choices.
Yes the numbers are so minimal that it would be “ok” to introduce carcinogens through various means to your family and loved ones.
Your right screw them, I have health insurance.
Thanks again Stinky.
When the numbers are at or below what occurs naturally in nature you really aren’t introducing anything. You are just trying to scare people with misinformation. Thanks for being a LOSER!!!
Glyphosate occurs naturally?
Politics or in the media, words are increasingly used not to convey facts or
even allegations of facts, but simply to arouse emotions.
Undefined words are a big handicap in logic, but they are a big plus in
politics, where the goal is not clarity but victory. A fantasy
expressed in numbers is still a fantasy.
And you have a lot of fantasies don’t you.
And time and again they have been declared safe. Google gmo dangerous talk for proof from around the world.
Yeah let’s “Google” a “Paid Activist” for information.
LMAO
only a moron would reject studies because of where they are posted. It is the studies themselves that should be looked at. You just keep digging yourself a bigger and bigger hole. No wonder no one takes you serious.
All GMO research has been classified a proprietary, intellectual, property therefore the developers have control of who views it
Incorrect. You’re being way too general. There are literally millions of studies involving genetically modified organisms that are done by academic groups and freely accessible via search engines like Google Scholar. Research about GM commercial crops is a bit more narrow, and what I assume you actually meant when you said “GMO research”. However, this too can be found via Google Scholar, if you take the time to look (which it appears you have not done).
Go to Google Scholar. Search “genetically modified “. Viola!
Lmao
Everybody knows about google and people are starting to wake up about all of the COI research studies.
Yeah, I suspect anyone with an Internet connection is aware google exists. The question is, how many people know how to use it?
20 years of hidden, protected, data and zero independent peer review research.
Make your point.
All the independent and long term research you could ever ask for. Just google gmo dangerous talk. By the way thanks for getting me to post it AGAIN!!! I like it when it can reach as many as possible.
Google has AI that screens results, no longer reliable.
Paid activist site.
Research is full of COI issues.
I like when I can reveal the truth about peoples links.
Who cares about the site if it the evidence that it points to is real and credible. Who care if google screens results as long as it gets you to the site that points to real studies. Again you are only making excuses so you don’t have to face the truth. For everyone else google gmo dangerous talk and find independent and long term research on gmos.
all gmos are poison to dna
That statement has no basis in reality.
At best
In today’s life everyone knows that money is very important, so I want to make everyone’s life easier and provide you financial freedom by telling you about a project that is paying me $10 k or more every month by doing simple tasks that anyone with basic computer skills can do and you need only good internet connection
~~check`my` ~~http website~~~listed~~~on~~~my~~~~{PrIvate}`~~~~~`page` ~~~~~~~!~
gffhv