Monsanto-Funded Glyphosate Study Graciously Informs The World That Glyphosate Is Completely Safe.
Oh they just won’t stop trying, will they.
Monsanto is in the news again–aren’t they always?–and this time it isn’t about their proposed merger with Bayer, a troubling development not only to the German government, but also to anyone who thinks food and the means to feed ourselves shouldn’t be controlled by a handful of mega-corporations.
It isn’t about their genetically modified seeds–ones that the rural people of India call suicide seeds due to the rate at which impoverished farmers in hock to the corporation because of their usurious patent fees kill themselves. It isn’t even about their lawyers continuing to evade the corporation’s culpability in the poisoning of millions of acres of U.S. wetlands and waterways with their PCB chemical runoff.
No, this time Monsanto is in the news–no doubt largely thanks to their massive PR department–because a recent study has shown that glyphosate, the active ingredient in their signature herbicide Roundup has been determined to be perfectly safe.
If you’re scratching your head right now thinking that doesn’t sound quite right, given that the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm found that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen, and that mounting evidence keeps piling up indicating that it is largely responsible for the massive bee die-offs of recent years, we should probably make it clear that Monsanto funded the research and paid the scientists who reached this conclusion.
Miracle of miracles.
That disclosure isn’t something Monsanto’s pet scientists felt compelled to do, at least not in any clear and up front way. The study, published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology didn’t mention the industry ties until the very end in a “Declaration of Interests.” And even then, the confession was anything but candid; it read in part:
“…it should be recognized that each individual participated in the review process and preparation of this paper as an independent professional and not as a representative of their employer.”
How big of them, to dig deep and find their independence despite taking home Monsanto paychecks.
The article did not shy away form prominent, multiple references to the “independence” of the study’s authors, a curious use of the word to say the least.
And the timing of the release of this “independent” study couldn’t be better for Monsanto, as it attempts to burnish its sullied star in advance of approval for its sale to Bayer. Especially in the context of glyphosate being found in more and more consumer products, including baby food, wine, beer and oatmeal, Monsanto could be viewed as somewhat desperate to make sure the deal goes through.
Another place they seem to be able to find that much-needed “independent” corroboration that glyphosate is safe is at the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA recently announced that it would hold a four-day open forum with public meetings to address concerns about the cancer risk of glyphosate.
Fortuitously, the agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs was able to reach the conclusion that glyphosate is “…not likely to be carcinogenic to humans at doses relevant to human health risk assessment.”
That is a convenient “independent” conclusion for both Monsanto and the EPA, given that the EPA is complicit in allowing literally tons of glyphosate to be dispersed all over the country and the world.
Imagine the culpability on both their parts should some independent study find glyphosate causes cancer.
Oh, wait. That already happened.
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http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/09/29/monsanto-glyphosate-study