Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents • Hacker News Board

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#71

Post by CodeWriter23 » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 4:50 AM UTC

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #49

abandonliberty wrote: post #32

I've been researching this. 1. Glyphosate (roundup) use is two orders of magnitude higher than originally approved. 2. Due to the emergence of glyphosate-resistant weeds, the dosage has been increased substantially. 3. It is now also usually combined with other compounds to increase effectiveness, which affects how it breaks down and affects both the food and environment. 4. It is now also used for 'green burndown'.…

Without claiming RoundUp is good for you, I would point to this with regards to your point #4: http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/roundupwheat.asp

Gotta love how Snopes dismisses anecdotal claims of allergies, then goes on to use anecdotal stories from farmers on a discussion forum to support their assertion that RoundUp isn't used as a crop dessicant.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#72

Post by macandcheese » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 4:51 AM UTC

It's not legal for sale in New York, mostly because of false advertising the company previously did touting it's biodegradability, even going so far as to say that it's "practically non-toxic".

In fact, they continue to be the subject of a class action lawsuit in NY: https://www.law360.com/articles/849367/monsanto-trims-but-ca...

Unfortunately all that may come of that lawsuit is a small label change...

It pains me to see so many people here supporting the company, especially from a group usually so ready to expose the faults of big corporations. You know, being a "hacker" and caring about the environment and the health of our planet and it's inhabitants are not mutually exclusive.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#73

Post by drakonandor » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 4:57 AM UTC

beautifulfreak wrote: post #68

nicksergeant wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"known" dangers is debatable, that's what the issue is. As posted elsewhere in these comments: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/does-glyphosate...

http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf

Is Seneff an expert on whatever sub-field of biology this is?

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#74

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 4:57 AM UTC

whiskyant wrote: post #40

I wonder if non-GMO foods have a higher likelihood to cause cancer because of Roundup.

[deleted]

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#75

Post by pfarnsworth » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 4:59 AM UTC

I just doused my yard with Roundup to get rid of the vast amounts of weeds and vegetation. I have to say, it did a fantastic job. What does this mean about the soil though, is it totally fucked now?

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#76

Post by pfarnsworth » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:01 AM UTC

baldfat wrote: post #63

mikekchar wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is actually another option -- especially with respect to herbicides: manual labour. Herbicides don't increase yield. They decrease cost. Wheat is currently $4.35 a bushel. A bushel of wheat is about 60 lbs. So, we're paying just over 7 cents a pound for wheat. Fix the distribution side, not the production side. There's a lot more fat there. And in the mean time, research ways of reducing labour on physical meth…

Have you ever been on a wheat farm? I actually have been and even got to help around the farm for fun. My friend had 4.5 squares. That is a square equals 1 square mile. How would we increase labor for weed control? I also lived in Imperial Valley, California. The back breaking work that the migrant workers did was amazing difficult. It would take double or triple the workers to pick through and weed a farm then pick…

As someone mentioned above, that's where robots come in.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#77

Post by djyaz1200 » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:11 AM UTC

Having held my mothers hand as she received chemo for her Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma I can tell you this... if there is a even a tiny chance using Roundup increases the risk of the disease it isn't worth it.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#78

Post by Obi_Juan_Kenobi » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:14 AM UTC

pfarnsworth wrote: post #75

I just doused my yard with Roundup to get rid of the vast amounts of weeds and vegetation. I have to say, it did a fantastic job. What does this mean about the soil though, is it totally fucked now?

Glyphosate breaks down pretty quickly. One of the debates about it is how quickly this actually happens, namely in the context of over-application, but in any case it's pretty quick. The low environmental persistence is one of the major selling points.

After a couple months, chances are even a very sensitive assay wouldn't be able to detect it in your lawn. As a one-off use, I don't think there's even a marginally compelling argument that it's dangerous.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#79

Post by fernandotakai » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:16 AM UTC

samangan wrote: post #15

gcheong wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this guy did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sgEhpHM4k

And this guy drinks cyanide: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bWNpO5vvhpk My point is that being able to drink one glass of the stuff doesn't really tell me much.

btw cody's lab is an really fun scientific youtube channel. his series on extracting metals is really fun.

Re: Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents

#80

Post by mythrwy » Thu, Apr 13, 2017, 5:46 AM UTC

snowpanda wrote: post #48

luckydude wrote: post #25

My dad died because of roundup. He was a physics prof, smart guy, fought hard for wetland issues. Was on the board of Wisconsin Wetlands. He didn't drink, didn't smoke, he was very active, very fit, and yet he got cancer. I can feel the down votes coming, but he was a guy that just should not have gotten cancer. Roundup gave him cancer. I could tell you stories about him dieing that would be not so fun. Fuck cancer a…

I'm so sorry your dad died, I'm with you on the roundup, very nasty stuff and a nasty company lobbying/suppressing any claims that say otherwise. I worked with it for many years myself until I left the industry. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor recently, I wasn't surprised to say the least. Won't get much of a two sided argument on HN about this unfortunately. It's interesting to see the usual anti-big-corporation…

I'm not sure it's crowd following in this case though.

For us (who are supposed to be objective) it shouldn't be a case of who we like or don't like or big evil corporations (which Monsanto well indeed may be, not arguing that point) but rather the objective evidence. And as far as I'm aware glyphosate objectively isn't very harmful to mammals.

It's a substituted amino acid. As opposed to something like paraquat which breaks cell membranes and generally is toxic to pretty much all biological forms.