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posted by janrinok on Wednesday November 29 2017, @10:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-they-said-it-was-safe dept.

Science Mag reports that the active ingredient in Monsanto's Round-Up weed killer and similar products is perfectly, er, probably, um, maybe safe enough for another 5 years.

The commission's Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF), made up of representatives from the commission's 28 member nations, couldn't agree on the length of a renewed license. PAFF initially proposed a 15-year renewal, then a 9-year renewal, and eventually settled on an 18-month extension.

Over the past 2 months, the committee again debated an extension, but no proposal secured the necessary "qualified majority" of PAFF members. But today [Nov 27] 18 countries voted in favor of a 5-year renewal, including Germany and three others that had abstained in the previous vote.

The case against glyphosate wasn't helped by the International Agency for Research on Cancer including it on its dubiously regarded Group 2A (probable carcinogens) along with Red Meat and Shift Work.

Stéphane Travert, agriculture minister of France (France voted for NO extension), sounded heroically determined on public radio when he proclaimed:

"These are 5 years during which we will work to search for alternatives, 5 years during which we will mobilize research and innovation so that tomorrow we can modify agricultural practices for our farmers and for the environment."


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by leftover on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:10AM

    by leftover (2448) on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:10AM (#603266)

    The entire toxicity/carcinogen uproar is a smoke screen. The real issue, or what should be the real issue, is endocrine system activity. Glyphosate, after reacting with a few metals in soil, becomes a hormone quite similar to estrogen. (Most people do not realize that we share hormones with plants.) "Golly, I wonder what the effects of saturating our food supply (and water, and soil, etc.) with estrogen might be." Search for it, read the articles. Be prepared for outrage, it is quite appropriate.

    If you have any remaining capacity, further outrage can be sourced in the stories of researchers worldwide whose work has been made to disappear. try "endocrine glyphosate". Look carefully at the responses by actual scientists then by Monsanto and paid-off government paper-pushers.

    If you get to this point and are still wondering whether there is a problem, well I hope you enjoy your world.

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