"vi stiller spørgsmål ved kvaliteten af denne vurdering," sagde Phillip Miller, Monsantos vicepræsident for globale reguleringssager i et interview tirsdag. "Verdenssundhedsorganisationen har noget at skulle forklare." president of global regulatory affairs, said during an interview on Tuesday. "The WHO has something to explain." Med det til virkning, at embedsmænd fra Monsanto har bedt om et møde med både Verdenssundhedsorganisationen og dets internationale agentur for kræftforskning (IARC) og desuden krævet en tilbagetrækning.
Ifølge Miller, så bringer hans firma dets egne undersøgelser til IARC, som viste sikkerheden af glyphosate, hvilket var stort set overset i rapporten. Han citerede ligeledes det faktum at både USA og andre internationale regulerende agenturer har godkendt ingrediensen.
Men USAs Miljøbeskyttelsesagentur EPA er i øjeblikket igang med at foretage et review af produktet og Monsanto er bekymret for at WHOs opdagelse kunne spille en stor rolle i agenturets afgørende beslutning.
"Denne selvmodsigelse har potentiale til skabe unødvendig forvirring og alarmere forældre, konsumenter, landmænd og den almene offenlighed," sagde Brett Begemann, præsident og COO for Monsanto, til journalister
Comment: En mageløs kommentar! Vi kan forgifte dem og slå dem ihjel, men for guds skyld ingen forvirring eller alarm!
Til oplysning: Monsantos glyphosate er den vigtigste grundårsag i gluten intolerance og er nu en $4 milliarder forretning om året og stigende.
På trods af Monsantos insisteren at produkterne er sikre, så mener mange eksperter at WHOs undersøgelse ikke bør ignoreres. "Der er mange uafhængigt udgivede manuskrifter som klart indikerer at glyphosate ...kan fremme kræft og knudevækst," siger Dave Schubert, chef for cellular neurobiology laboratory ved Salk Institutet for Biologiske Studier, til Reuters. "Det bør forbydes."
Kommentar: Vi undskylder at resten af denne artikel er på engelsk, men i vores bestræbelser på at få så meget information og viden ud til jer, så må vi fra tid til anden ty til at poste artikler på engelsk. Vi er klar over at danskere reelt er nogle af de bedste i verden til engelsk og derfor vil forstå det meste på skriftengelsk. Vi er kun en lille frivillig stab, så hvis nogen har lyst til at hjælpe med at oversætte, så hører vi gerne fra jer. Email os på: sott_da@sott.net
THE EPA has the power to do just that.
The findings are especially alarming given the way that Roundup is used. The herbicide is used to kill weeds which can hinder the growth of crops, and when paired with its sister product, Roundup Ready seeds, farmers are able to spray entire fields. Monsanto's seeds are genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide, and as such, any food harvested from such crops could have been soaked in the glyphosate-rich Roundup."We use these tools on our land, working alongside our family members, so the safety of these products is critical to us," Chris Novak, chief executive officer of the National Corn Growers Association, said, according to the Des Moines Register.
According to the US Geological Survey, agricultural use of glyphosate in 2012 reached in excess of 283 million pounds.
The demand for a retraction comes from a company which is no stranger to aggressive legal proceedings. Monsanto has a history of suing individual farmers in an effort to protect its seed patents. Through these legal suits against farmers who can barely afford to stay afloat, Monsanto has raked in nearly $23 million.
"We expect farmers will continue to use [our products] and do not anticipate that there will be an impact on our sales," Begemann said, though it's hard to imagine Monsanto officials remaining confident in their product while at the same time expressing clear concern about a WHO scientific study.
Kommentar: Se også følgende artikler på dansk:
- Monsanto lobbyist sværger at herbicid er sikkert nok til at drikke...indtil journalisten tilbyder ham et glas
- Det regner med glyphosate! Giftig herbicide fundet i over 75% af luft- og regnprøver
The real question is how has Monsanto gotten away with acceptance by regulatory agencies for so long using its own determinations rather than independent studies, such as the German study that discovered a significant amount of glyphosate in the urine of people and animals all across Europe (5-20 times more than the limit for drinking water in 18 countries studied). Glyphosate is increasingly in food production and weed killers for farming but is also sprayed onto rail lines, urban pavements and roadsides. The residue on crops enters the food chain of animals and humans and contaminates groundwater. Besides cancer, Glyphosate is also linked to autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The EPA, (scratch your heads on this one) recently raised the allowable concentrations of Monsanto's Glyphosate on food crops, edible oils and animal feed, since it is part of a revolving door with Monsanto.Glyphosate was recently found to be an endocrine disruptor. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with the hormone system in mammals. These disruptors can cause developmental disorders, birth defects and cancer tumors. Monsanto's roundup has been responsible for fuelling breast cancer by increasing the number of breast cancer cells through cell growth and cell division. Researchers also determined that Monsanto's Roundup is considered an xenoestrogen, which is a foreign estrogen that mimics real estrogen in our bodies. This can cause a number of problems that include an increased risk of various cancers, early onset of puberty, thyroid issues, infertility and more.
Monsanto has "revolving door" with: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Dept. of Commerce, US Trade Representative, Dept. of Defense, Dept. of State, Food and Drug Admin., EPA, Supreme Court, White House and the Social Security Admin.
-Monsanto, a corporate profile PDF
From what Monsanto has done and continues to do, there is no way back.