Biotech giant Monsanto has been awarded yet another victory by the federal government thanks to a recent Environmental Protection Agency decision to allow larger traces of the herbicide glyphosate in farm-grown foods.

Despite a number of studies linking exposure to the chemical with

diseases including types of cancer, the EPA is increasing the

amount of glyphosate allowed in oilseed and food crops.

The EPA announced their plans on May 1 and allowed critics two

months to weigh in and object to the ruling. Following little

opposition, though, the EPA is on path to soon approve of levels

of glyphosate being found in crops several times over the current

concentration.

Glyphosate, a weed-killing chemical developed by Monsanto in

1970, is the key ingredient in the company’s “Roundup” label of

herbicides. In the decades since, Monsanto has created and

patented a number of genetically-modified organisms and

genetically-engineered crops resisted to glyphosate that are sold

worldwide under the company’s “Roundup Ready” brand. Those GMO

products are then planted in fields where glyphosate, namely

Roundup, is used en masse to eliminate weeds from taking over

harvest. With scientists linking that chemical to cancerous

diseases, though, critics decry the EPA decision and caution it

could do more harm than good.

Through the EPA’s new standards, the amount of allowable

glyphosate in oilseed crops such as flax, soybeans and canola

will be increased from 20 parts per million (ppm) to 40 ppm,

which GM Watch acknowledged is over 100,000 times the

amount needed to induce breast cancer cells. Additionally, the

EPA is increasing limits on allowable glyphosate in food crops

from 200 ppm to 6,000 ppm.

Just last month, The Cornucopia Institute concluded a study by finding glyphosate “exerted

proliferative effects in human hormone-dependent breast

cancer.” A similar study released in April concluded that

“glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne

chemical residues and environmental toxins.”

“Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly

over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the

body,” independent scientist Anthony Samsel and MIT’s

Stephanie Seneff concluded in the April study. “Consequences are most of the diseases and

conditions associated with a Western diet, which include

gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease,

depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s

disease.”

Dr. Don M. Huber, emeritus professor of plant pathology at Purdue

University, found in yet another examination that “Glyphosate draws out

the vital nutrients of living things,” in turn removing most

nutritional value from GMO foods.

A press release issued by the group Beyond Pesticides criticized

the decision as well. “Given that alternative methods of

growing food and managing weeds are available, like those that

exist in organic agriculture, it is unreasonable for EPA to

increase human exposures to Roundup,” they wrote.

In the past, Monsanto has long-defended their use of the

chemical. “We are very confident in the long track record that

glyphosate has,” Jerry Stainer, Monsanto’s executive vice

president of sustainability, stated previously. “It has been

very, very extensively studied.”

Republished with permission from: RT