By Dr. Mercola
Glyphosate — the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup and other herbicides — is the most widely used agricultural chemical in the world, and testing suggests a large portion of the global population now has glyphosate in their system.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the "gold standard" in carcinogenicity research, glyphosate is a "probable human carcinogen" (Class 2A).1,2
Research scientist Anthony Samsel has also reported he has evidence showing Monsanto is well aware glyphosate promotes cancer, and that they've had this knowledge since 1981.
Publicly, the company has insisted glyphosate is harmless to both environment and human health, but recent revelations are beginning to unravel Monsanto's carefully orchestrated plot to deceive the public.
The evidence in question suggests the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has in fact colluded with Monsanto to protect the company's interests by manipulating and preventing key investigations into glyphosate's cancer-causing potential.
What we have here is really the most dangerous situation possible. Taxpayers' money has essentially been used to help shield companies from liability and obstruct consumers' ability to prove damages.
Environmental Protection Agency Accused of Colluding With Monsanto
But first, some background: Based on the IARC's classification of glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) followed suit, declaring glyphosate a carcinogen under Proposition 65.
As a result, all glyphosate-containing products must carry a cancer warning. Monsanto attempted to overturn the OEHHA's decision, but Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kristi Kapetan ruled against it.3,4,5 More than 60 plaintiffs are also suing Monsanto claiming Roundup caused or contributed to their non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
One of them is Yolanda Mendoza,6 who has battled stage 4 non-Hodgkin's for over a year. She believes her cancer was caused by Roundup, which she would spray on her lawn every weekend, using a backpack sprayer. She has lost sensation in her fingers and jaw due to nerve damage.
Monsanto has defended Roundup's safety in court by leaning on a 2016 EPA report that found glyphosate is "not likely to be carcinogenic" to humans.7 At the time, Jess Rowland was the associate director of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, Health Effects Division,8 and Rowland was a key author of that report.
The EPA's conclusion, which runs counter to the IARC's determination, met with severe criticism — so much so, a scientific advisory panel was recently convened to evaluate the strength of the EPA's decision.
According to some of the members on this panel, the EPA indeed appears to have violated its own guidelines by discounting and downplaying data from studies linking glyphosate to cancer.9
Next, attorneys for plaintiffs suing Monsanto found email correspondence between EPA toxicologist Marion Copley and Rowland suggesting Rowland may have colluded with Monsanto to find glyphosate non-carcinogenic.10,11
In one email Copley cites evidence showing glyphosate is toxic to animals, adding "It is essentially certain that glyphosate causes cancer." She directly accuses Rowland of playing "political conniving games with the science" to help Monsanto and other pesticide manufacturers.
According to court records, Rowland also warned Monsanto of the IARC's determination months before it was made public,12 giving the company time to plan its defense strategy.
New Bombshell — Evidence for EPA-Monsanto Collusion Grows Stronger
Then came the next bombshell. Email correspondence showed Rowland helped stop a glyphosate investigation by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Monsanto's behalf.
In an email, Monsanto regulatory affairs manager Dan Jenkins recounts a conversation he'd had with Rowland, in which Rowland said, "If I can kill this I should get a medal,"13,14 referring to the ATSDR investigation.
Jenkins also noted that Rowland was planning to retire in a few months and "could be useful as we move forward with ongoing glyphosate defense."15 This is about as damaging as it gets.
By colluding with Monsanto to declare glyphosate safe and stopping toxicology evaluations by other federal offices, the EPA has used taxpayers' money to hide the truth about a dangerous toxin and prevent consumers harmed by the chemical from being able to effectively prove their case in court.
Without the EPA, Monsanto would have a tougher time arguing Roundup is harmless, and the company has gone to great lengths to get the court to discount the IARC's determination that glyphosate is carcinogenic, insisting the EPA is a far superior agency, referring to the IARC as an "unelected, undemocratic, unaccountable and foreign body."
Instead of protecting public health, the EPA basically gave the finger to all those who may have been harmed or killed by Roundup by providing Monsanto with the "evidence of innocence" they so desperately need to defend themselves. But now the truth is bubbling out. As reported by Bloomberg:
"The plaintiffs' lawyers say Rowland's communications with Monsanto employees show the regulator who was supposed to be policing the company was actually working on its behalf.
The unsealing of the court documents 'represents a huge development in public health,' said Tim Litzenburg, one of the lawyers suing Monsanto.
Regulatory agencies, scientists, consumers and physicians 'can see some of what Monsanto was actually engaging in behind the scenes, and how they have manipulated the scientific literature to date. That's important to their decision-making, not just our lawsuits."
more here
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/03/28/epa-monsanto-collusion.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20170328Z2&et_cid=DM140023&et_rid=1944755798
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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