Roundup Linked With Birth Defects

As a follow up to yesterday's report on pesticides, I found this report on the herbicide, glyphosate, the chemical upon which the trademark named herbicide, Roundup, is based.  This herbicide report comes from the European Community.  In common practice in the United States, farmers use Roundup to kill the growth fields before they plant.  Many, many homeowners commonly use Roundup to kill weeds in their yards and make it look "tidy".

Here are excepts from the report, "Roundup and Birth Defects:  Is the public being kept in the dark?" from Earth Open Source 2011.

"Research published in August 2010 showed that the best-selling herbicide Roundup causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos at doses much lower than those used in agricultural spraying.  The malformations found were mostly of the cranofacial and neural crest type, which affect the skull, face, midline, and developing brain and spinal cord."

"The issue is of particular concern now that Monsanto and other producers of genetically modified seed are trying to get their glyphosate-tolerant crops approved for cultivation in Europe.  If the EU Commission gives its approval, this will lead to a massive increase in the amount of glyphosate sprayed in the fields of EU member states, as has already happened in North and South Americas.  Consequently, people's exposure to glyphosate will increase."

To read the full report, go to Round Up and Birth Defects.

For more information about the use of the commonly used herbicide, you can go to:

Pathogen in Roundup Ready Soy and Corn Could Lead to Calamity, Scientist Warns  from Mother Earth News

Monsanto and the Roundup Ready Controversy from SourceWatch.org

Need a weed killer in your garden?  Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray away.  It may require more applications then chemical herbicides, but it's not going to have the side-effects of the chemicals either!