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On September 4, 2015, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice of intent to (the main ingredient of Monsanto’s Roundup and many
other herbicides) as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer under Proposition 65. OEHHA has a public comment period open until October 20th.
Support the California EPA’s proposal to list glyphosate as a cancer-causing substance under Proposition 65!
California law requires that
“[s]ubstances listed as human or animal carcinogens by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)” be listed under
Proposition 65. IARC is an arm of the World Health Organization, and
the world’s leading authority on cancer.
The
only relevant question for OEHHA is whether IARC has, in fact,
determined that glyphosate is a human or animal carcinogen. The answer
is yes.
IARC concluded that: “There
is sufficient evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity
of glyphosate.” This sufficient evidence derives from multiple studies
in which glyphosate, when administered in the diet, caused carcinomas or
other tumors in the kidneys, pancreas, liver and/or other organs of
experimental mice and rats.
When IARC released its assessment, Monsanto immediately launched a campaign to discredit IARC and its findings on glyphosate.
EPA
has known for years that glyphosate probably causes cancer, yet the
agency has allowed Monsanto and other companies to sell more and more of
it every year. Support the California listing of glyphosate as a
chemical known to cause cancer!
Glyphosate
is the world’s most heavily used conventional pesticide, with over 280
million lbs. sprayed on American cropland each year. Most is applied to
Monsanto’s genetically engineered, glyphosate-resistant corn, soybeans
and cotton, which each represent roughly 90% of respective crop acres. In California, glyphosate is sprayed on more acres than any other pesticide.
With such massive use comes
increasing exposure. Glyphosate is frequently detected in the air,
rainfall and surface waters of the U.S. Although there is very little
testing for glyphosate residues in food, especially in the U.S., tests
that have been conducted frequently detect it (e.g. in bread). Glyphosate
is found in the urine of both farm and non-farm family members,
including children, suggesting similar levels of exposure. Glyphosate
has also been detected in human blood.
California farmers,
farmworkers, farm communities and consumers deserve to know that
glyphosate has been found to cause cancer in animals. If our federal agencies won’t tell us, the state has an obligation to – and that’s what this listing does.
Sign the Petition to list glyphosate as a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer >>
The Center for Food Safety Reposted by The Marin Post
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