What the bleep is the deal with Roundup?
Some of my first dandelion-associated memories also involve a bottle of Roundup. I remember it being a hot summer’s day and I was helping my parents with yard work. I was too small to do much so I was assigned to spray the dandelions. It was like a fun scavenger hunt, armed with an effective weapon that fit perfectly in my hand.
Since those summer days more than 20 years ago my opinions have changed and I’d much rather hunt weeds to eat them, than kill them. Full transparency: I think weeds are beneficial both to our health and that of the planet, but that opinion is not shared by everyone. Many people still see dandelions as an eyesore that needs to be killed.
Glyphosate, the main chemical in Roundup, was manufactured by Monsanto Co. and introduced to farmers in 1974 as a way to keep weeds out of their crops. Today, glyphosate is the most commonly used agricultural pesticide world-wide, specifically on corn, soy and cotton crops in the U.S. According to the 2015 United States Geological Survey (USGS), 300 million pounds of glyphosate are used in the US each year.
I’ve done extensive research on glyphosate before but every time I revisit it, the more confused and frustrated I feel. The EPA’s official stance, as of January 2020, is that, “there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used according to the label and that it is not a carcinogen, ” according to the Interim Registration Review Decision Case Number 0178.
However, it’s safety for both people and planet is still debated among experts. There are 40 countries around the world have restrictions or full bans on glyphosate. Most of these restrictions were put into place after a document published on March 20, 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified glyphosate as a carcinogen. In the years since there has been some debate as to whether or not that report included all relevant information, an accusation the IARC denies.
Glyphosate kills milkweed, the only plant that monarch Butterflies will lay their eggs in. Monarch populations have declined 80 percent in the last 20 years. In addition to this Monsanto Co. has been taken to court & lost three times totaling $2.4 billion awarded to plaintiffs.
Personally, I can’t imagine glyphosate not having an effect on the human body, especially when it so efficiently kills such a hardy plant. At this point I don’t have any real conclusion for you. I wish I did. I do know that the digital stack of documents I want to dive into is mountainous! If you need me I’ll be reading redacted emails, trying to make sense of it all.
