Environmental, Dallas-Fort Worth

Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. According to a French research team its effects are amplified by the adjuvants present in Roundup, known to facilitate cell penetration.

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What do dead frogs, miscarried babies, people with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and children with ADD all have in common?

Apparently one commonality is exposure to glyphosate which is sold by the manufacturer Monsanto under the brand name "Roundup" and touted by Monsanto as one of the "safest" pesticides on the market.

The Disappearance of Frogs

I spent lots of time as a child wandering up and down a creek near my home. I can certainly attribute a lifelong love of nature to my observations at that creek. A prime fascination was watching tadpoles turn into frogs.

How long has it been since you have seen a tadpole?

Probably years as amphibians are disappearing worldwide.

Two articles in the August 1,2005, issue of Ecological Applications publish results by the University of Pittsburgh's research team led by Rick Relyea, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. The scientists applied Roundup, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, at one-third of the maximum concentration expected in nature. Both tests showed that:

1. Roundup kills the tadpoles raised in outdoor tanks.

2. Despite the presence of soil added to the tanks, nearly all the tadpoles from three species died.

3. Roundup kills frogs, too, even when following the recommended home gardener applications of Roundup.

"The most striking result from the experiments was that a chemical designed to kill plants killed 98 percent of all tadpoles within three weeks and 79 percent of all frogs within one day," Relyea wrote.

Harms More than Frogs

1. The June 2005 scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives reports that Roundup damages human placental cells within 18 hours of exposure and at exposure levels ten times less than what the company claims is safe.

2 The researchers also tested glyphosate and Roundup at lower concentrations for effects on sexual hormones, reporting effects at very low levels. This suggests that dilution with other ingredients in Roundup may, in fact, facilitate glyphosate's hormonal impacts.

3. The American Academy of Family Physicians epidemiological research has now linked exposure to the herbicide with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a life-threatening cancer.

4. A Canadian study has linked exposure to Roundup with increased risk for miscarriage.

5. A 2002 study in Minnesota linked Roundup exposure with increased incidence of attention deficit disorder in children.

6. Laboratory studies have now begun to hone in on the mechanism by which the chemical acts on cell division to cause cancer

Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. According to a French research team its effects are amplified by the adjuvants present in Roundup, known to facilitate cell penetration. Adjuvants are agents which modify the effect of other agents while having few if any direct effects when given by themselves, roughly analogous to chemical catalysts.

Used by Agriculture, Government, Home Gardeners

Despite these studies, glyphosate is the world's most commonly used agricultural pesticide, and the second most-applied residential pesticide in the U.S.

1. The herbicide is used in forestry in North America to reduce grasses, shrubs and trees that compete with commercial timber trees.

2. Roundup is introduced into the human food chain by its use on 140 million acres of genetically engineered crops across the world.

3. Monsanto's sales of glyphosate have expanded approximately 20% each year through the 1990s, accounting for 67% of the company's total sales as of 200l.

4. EPA estimates glyphosate use in the U.S. is 103-113 million pounds annually.

Non-organic gardeners almost certainly use Roundup Weed and Grass Killer, a formulation marketed to homeowners and gardeners. Even if you do not use it at home, be sure that all but the most enlightened city governments make liberal use of Roundup in public places, too.

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What can you do to help?

Quit using Roundup products yourself.
Write a letter to your city parks and recreation director stating the above research results. Ask the city to quit using Roundup in public places. Stress that Roundup is NOT inactivated by the presence of soil as many officials seem to think.

"Pesticides don't stay put. What we put on our lawns washes into our streams," said Aimee Code of the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. "Current federal regulation of pesticides is not keeping our waters safe. We can clean up our waters and keep our yards beautiful by using healthy and effective lawn care techniques."

Home owners can grow a healthy lawn and garden without pesticides by mowing regularly with a mulching mower, aerating, composting, and fertilizing, if even needed, with an organic fertilizer.

Source: Ecological Applications, August, 2005; Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005; Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides; Monsanto Corporate Fact Sheet; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; United States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

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