We have repeatedly denounced the serious damage and dangers to human health and the environment associated with the spreading of glyphosate, the most widely used agrotoxic on the planet. It was devised by Monsanto (under the brand name #RoundUp), which went on to develop GMO soybeans and corn (1) for the express purpose of allowing those species alone to survive the poisonous effects of the pesticide. And just when the international outcry against glyphosate has reached its peak, here comes the disastrous new poison, #dicamba.
#StopGlifosate. Petitions traceable to the ashtag have collected millions of signatures globally, thanks to the IARC’s(International Agency for Research on Cancer) scientific opinion on its carcinogenicity and the documentation collected (2) on the most tragic damage it has caused to the health of populations. Not enough for the European Commission, which as usual has favored the big lobbies, of agrotoxics and farmers, over consumer protection. Authorizing in 2016 a further renewal to the use of the dangerous pesticide, in blatant contradiction to the so-called precautionary principle (to which European policies should come to be guided) according to which – in the absence of scientific certainty about the harmlessness of substances – it is proper to prevent their use.
#Monsanto Corporation moreover boasts a prominent role in the history of weapons of mass destruction and hazardous substances. His contributions to the Manhattan project (whose deadly devices were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki), the conception and production of Agent Orange (which instead devastated Vietnam), PCBs and dioxins, saccharin, aspartame, rBGH(Synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone) are inscribed on the disaster list. Glyphosate, by comparison, is an almost trivial herbicide. He has been extraordinarily successful, yes, but his patent has expired and so will be the case with GMOs designed to his specifications. Thus-pending the green light from the antitrust authorities of various countries to its acquisition by the Teutonic giant Bayer (3)-Monsanto has developed a new extermination tool.
Dicamba, the super agrotoxic, in the 10 years since the preliminary application for registration has already garnered attestations of neurotoxicity, damage to the reproductive system, liver and kidneys, risks of fetal malformation, toxicity to birds and aquatic species, and leaching into groundwater (4). Never enough to stand in the way of favorable scrutiny by the authorities, thanks to the munificent support of the Corporation‘s lobbyists,(5) as indeed happened just when the media were distracted by the lively presidential elections in the US (6). And even before the EPA(Environment Protection Agency) gave the green light to the herbicide, Monsanto had already genetically manipulated and marketed the only seeds that could resist it, such as‘Roundup Ready 2 Xtend‘ soybeans. And early buyers had already caused the devastation of ‘non-target’ crops-which include both glyphosate-only resistant GMOs and conventional plants of various species, including fruit trees-on tens of thousands of hectares of land. For dicamba is as deadly as it is volatile, and its venomous effects can extend for miles (7).
The new disaster is ready, on a planetary scale. Dicamba will also be marketed by the other members of the exclusive agrotoxics club, DuPont and BASF. In turn, DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta will put dozens of dicamba-resistant GMO soybean varieties on the seed market as early as 2017 (8). In addition to those of Monsanto, whose presence or derivation-in food, feed and other products-has also already been authorized in Europe until 2026 (9). It took 40 years to accrue awareness about the woes of glyphosate, how many years will it take for the dicamba macumba? Choosing organic foods can protect us from its residues in food, but there is little we can do to stem the damage to the environment (which impacts health, including through water contamination) except to say #Enough!
For more information on GMOs and agrotoxics, a free download of the ebook ‘GMOs, the Big Scam’ is available at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sostenibilità /ogm-la-grande-truffa
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) The perverse link between the agrotoxics and biotech industries is highlighted in the ebook ‘GMOs, the Big Scam,’ at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sostenibilità /ogm-la-grande-truffa
(2) One among all, the work ‘The human cost of agrotoxicos’ by Argentine Pablo Ernesto Piovano, at https://youtu.be/U7U9-Es1LlE
(3) http://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-m-a-bayer-deal-idUSKCN11K128,
(4) http://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/pesticide-gateway-test?pname=dicamba.php, http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC32871
(5) Monsanto’s intervention is at the level of presidents and secretaries of state, conservatives http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/805581 and Democrats http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-17/lobbyists-for-monsanto-exxon-mobile-raise-money-for-hillary-clinton
(6) http://www.reuters.com/article/monsanto-epa-dicamba-idUSL1N1DA3YS
(7) Missouri’s leading peach producer, Bader Peaches, reported the loss of 30,000 plants. Cf. http://www.ecowatch.com/epa-monsanto-dicamba-gmos-2087899331.html
(8) https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/crops/article/2016/11/10/epa-registers-xtendimax-2
(9) http://ec.europa.eu/food/dyna/gm_register/gm_register_auth.cfm?pr_id=63, http://ec.europa.eu/food/dyna/gm_register/gm_register_auth.cfm?pr_id=75
