Ban Glyphosate, the carcinogenic ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup
The Issue
Glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. In September 2015, the California Environmental Protection Agency announced a notice of intent to list glyphosate, one of the most widely-used herbicides in agriculture, and three other chemicals to a list of carcinogens under the state's Proposition 65 law.
It's time for Sonoma County and its cities to stop using it on our public lands and open spaces. Petaluma, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Windsor, Healdsburg, and Sonoma should join a growing list of local governments, including Chicago, IL, Takoma Park, MD, Laguna Hills, CA, Richmond, CA, Durham, CT, and Paris, France, that have banned glyphosate.
Not only is glyphosate absorbed by plants treated with the chemical, but it is also absorbed into the ground, contaminating our water. Glyphosate is used as a desiccant on food crops, and can be found in human urine and breast milk. Protect our well-being and our environment.
The toxic weed killer, glyphosate, widely used under its trade name, RoundUp, contains a chemical that is linked to irreversible neurological and endocrine-disrupting effects, severe kidney damage, asthma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, birth defects and infertility, amongst other grave and life altering conditions. The wide-spread use of glyphosate is contaminating our water and our food, affecting both those that consume glyphosate-treated products and those that do not.
The risk of cancer is greatest for dogs and children who often have their faces in grass treated with glyphosate. Dogs are suffering from oral and nasal cancers as well as lymphoma in increasing numbers and at younger ages.
NRDC said current uses of glyphosate are causing “significant ongoing harm” to monarchs, the unique orange-and-black butterfly species that migrates through the United States, Canada and Mexico as part of its annual life-cycle. Recent figures show the monarch numbers in their Mexican wintering ground have plunged to just 10 percent of their recent annual average, and “the pervasive use of glyphosate has contributed to the monarch’s decline.”
A systemic pesticide moves inside a plant following absorption by the plant. With insecticides and most fungicides, this movement is usually upward (through the xylem) and outward, resulting in poisoned pollen and nectar that may kill bees and other pollinators. In the last few years, the use of some of Bayer's systemic pesticides in California almond groves resulted in the injuries or deaths of 17 billion honeybees.
Please follow the policy of Richmond, CA, and enact a 1-year pesticide moratorium, during which time you will evaluate passing legislation to ban system pesticide use!
Sources:
World Health Organization Report on Glyphosate in Drinking Water
Concern over glyphosate began in 2011
Glyphosate in Human Breast Milk
Precautionary Principle explained
Center for Food Safety May 2015 Fact Sheet (good read)
Petition Closed
The Issue
Glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. In September 2015, the California Environmental Protection Agency announced a notice of intent to list glyphosate, one of the most widely-used herbicides in agriculture, and three other chemicals to a list of carcinogens under the state's Proposition 65 law.
It's time for Sonoma County and its cities to stop using it on our public lands and open spaces. Petaluma, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Windsor, Healdsburg, and Sonoma should join a growing list of local governments, including Chicago, IL, Takoma Park, MD, Laguna Hills, CA, Richmond, CA, Durham, CT, and Paris, France, that have banned glyphosate.
Not only is glyphosate absorbed by plants treated with the chemical, but it is also absorbed into the ground, contaminating our water. Glyphosate is used as a desiccant on food crops, and can be found in human urine and breast milk. Protect our well-being and our environment.
The toxic weed killer, glyphosate, widely used under its trade name, RoundUp, contains a chemical that is linked to irreversible neurological and endocrine-disrupting effects, severe kidney damage, asthma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, birth defects and infertility, amongst other grave and life altering conditions. The wide-spread use of glyphosate is contaminating our water and our food, affecting both those that consume glyphosate-treated products and those that do not.
The risk of cancer is greatest for dogs and children who often have their faces in grass treated with glyphosate. Dogs are suffering from oral and nasal cancers as well as lymphoma in increasing numbers and at younger ages.
NRDC said current uses of glyphosate are causing “significant ongoing harm” to monarchs, the unique orange-and-black butterfly species that migrates through the United States, Canada and Mexico as part of its annual life-cycle. Recent figures show the monarch numbers in their Mexican wintering ground have plunged to just 10 percent of their recent annual average, and “the pervasive use of glyphosate has contributed to the monarch’s decline.”
A systemic pesticide moves inside a plant following absorption by the plant. With insecticides and most fungicides, this movement is usually upward (through the xylem) and outward, resulting in poisoned pollen and nectar that may kill bees and other pollinators. In the last few years, the use of some of Bayer's systemic pesticides in California almond groves resulted in the injuries or deaths of 17 billion honeybees.
Please follow the policy of Richmond, CA, and enact a 1-year pesticide moratorium, during which time you will evaluate passing legislation to ban system pesticide use!
Sources:
World Health Organization Report on Glyphosate in Drinking Water
Concern over glyphosate began in 2011
Glyphosate in Human Breast Milk
Precautionary Principle explained
Center for Food Safety May 2015 Fact Sheet (good read)
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Petition created on August 14, 2015