The Glyphosate debate

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

The Glyphosate debate

15 February. Glyphosate Isn’t Giving You Cancer vs Monsanto’s Roundup raises cancer

Monsanto’s Roundup raises cancer risk 41%, EPA-linked scientists
Monsanto’s Roundup raises the risk of certain cancers in heavily-exposed individuals by an eye-popping 41 percent, according to a study by former EPA advisors that may influence a coming wave of legal actions against the company.

Monsanto’s Roundup raises the risk of certain cancers in heavily-exposed individuals by an eye-popping 41 percent, according to a study by former EPA advisors that may influence a coming wave of legal actions against the company.

Exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup dramatically increases a person’s risk of developing non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a new review of studies found, adding to the mounting pile of evidence against Monsanto’s popular weed killer, now owned by Bayer. The meta-analysis, published in Mutation Research, analyzed the results of six earlier studies to find individuals with heavy exposure to the herbicide had a 41 percent higher risk of developing non-Hodgkins lymphoma than those not exposed.

(...) After a historic court ruling in August in which the agrochemical conglomerate was forced to pay $78 million for “acting with malice” in concealing the carcinogenic risk of its product, resulting in a California groundskeeper’s cancer, Bayer-Monsanto is facing over 9,300 additional lawsuits from others with non-Hodgkins lymphoma who believe Roundup was responsible. The next case begins later this month.

15 February. Glyphosate Isn’t Giving You Cancer Why RoundUp is probably fine for your health

News stories have exploded recently — as they do every 3 months or so — screaming that glyphosate is a cancer-causing evil that causes a 41% increase in people who are exposed to the chemical.

After decades of research, we can safely say that glyphosate is not harmful to the average person. Despite the recent research, it’s unlikely that glyphosate poses any significant harm.

So where are the terrifying headlines coming from?
Well, researchers recently did what’s known as a meta-analysis to look at glyphosate risk for a specific type of cancer — Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What this means is that they combined all of the studies that have been done looking at this specific cancer, and reanalyzed the data to see if there was a risk.

They found that being exposed to the highest levels of glyphosate for long periods of time was associated with a 41% increased risk of developing the cancer.
The problem is, this study had issues. It collected a diverse range of observational studies into one place, and then combined the results into one statistical analysis. To see the problem with combining studies in this way, we can take a look at two of the included studies — one of them measured glyphosate exposure via a single yes/no question, while the other used a detailed interview that looked at a wide variety of exposures. Are those two studies measuring the same thing? It’s hard to know.
Overall, even if we accept the results on face value, the study isn’t that meaningful to individuals. The increased risk, in absolute terms, was only about 0.5%, which is much lower than the scary-sounding 41% that’s been in most headlines. It was also for people who have been exposed to very high levels of glyphosate, often for decades. This is very different to the tiny exposure that most people would get from eating fruit and vegetables grown using glyphosate.

21 January: Published on YouTube(128,003 views)
PRODUCTION : January 2019
Lenght : 01:30:00
4 consecutive documentaries: Monsanto, la fabrique du doute ; Le glyphotest d’"Envoyé" ; Le vote impossible ; Sri Lanka, un pays sans glyphosate
This was broadcasted on Friday evening 15 February @ 22h00 on TV 5 Magreb Proche Orient: Grande soirée événementielle consacrée au glyphosate dans « Envoyé spécial »

Glyphosate Isn’t Giving You Cancer

Upcoming events:

26 February 2019. Brussels. The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to the SDGs: Scientific evidence from comparative research
An initiative of FiBL: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
Hosted by European Commission, DG for International Cooperation and Development
This will be WEB streamed.
25-27 June 2019 Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya Eastern Africa Conference on Scaling up Agroecology and Ecological Organic Trade
Biovision (Switzerland) has recently launched a new website “Agroecology Info Pool” which contains a criteria tool to assess projects or policies, convincing showcases and an assessment of the impacts of various agroecological interventions on all Sustainable Development Goals.
The website serves as a platform to provide evidence, knowledge and experiences on the impacts and multiple benefits of Agroecology.