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

nytimes.com

231–240 of 261 posts

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

#231
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Nicholas Taleb put it - stuff that is natural is time-tested. Food we've grown + consumed has a multi-millennium history of being safe to consume. The burden of proof is on the synthetic. And health issues can materialize with a time gap of a decade or so - essentially you can ruin a couple of generations with a mistake you didn't catch in time. It doesn't help when those who have to prove their validity have to r…

> Food we've grown + consumed has a multi-millennium history of being safe The food we consume now has little resemblance past a visual one (and even not that in some cases), to food of the past. Time-tested? Only in the past 60 years or so have we actually been able to begin to understand the effects of any food, natural or GMO. That our ancestors didn't keel over immediately after consuming these "same" foods does…

> That our ancestors didn't keel over immediately after consuming these "same" foods does not mean they are anymore "safe to consume" than GMO foods.

I think this is the wrongest statement I've ever read on HN.

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

#232

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 co…

Thank you.

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

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The article says it isn't used as a crop desiccant in wheat . If you want another anecdotal data point, as a grain grower myself, I have to echo the sentiment there. I'm sure someone has tried it, but I see no reason for wheat to need desiccation generally. Edible beans on the other hand...

I was merely noting Snopes' intellectual dishonesty in dismissing anecdotal data solely on the basis that it is anecdotal (and obviously, inconvenient to their conclusion), but then using anecdotal data to support their conclusion when it is convenient.

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

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does, but not really to smoking. Tobacco is far safer chewed or insufflated than smoked, and cigarettes have a bunch of additional terrible chemicals in them.

Any burning organic matter will contain carcinogens. Breathing a constant supply of wood smoke will wreak havoc on one's lungs. I'd be curious to find out if there's any place with a history of consumption of fresh tobacco leaves as a food item.

No. You would get tobacco sickness.

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

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not asking you to believe anything from Monsanto. There is a vast field of researchers that care deeply about what causes cancer and what can be done to prevent and treat it. Most of us aren't for sale. There are sensitive, objective and simple tests for determining whether or not a compound causes genetic mutations in cells (Ames test). There are tests for whether or not a compound induces chromosome abnormaliti…

You fail to account for the possibility of unknown unknowns, and again you're displaying biased cognitive dissonance. You can't determine generational toxicity from LD50 profiles. You are simplifying everything way too much. Glyphosate is an analog to glycine. You know, the building blocks for proteins. DuPont did a study in 2007 that shows glyphosate is integrating in protein structures. Does that not worry you? Gly…

I engineer proteins for a living. I know that glyphosate is a glycine analog. Re: bacterial processing -- We've fed tons of glyphosate to mammals to see if it causes cancers - it doesn't seem to. Mammals don't absorb it well. I certainly don't assume anything about Monsanto's benevolence, but you happily seem to assume that I'm made of socks.

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

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not asking you to believe anything from Monsanto. There is a vast field of researchers that care deeply about what causes cancer and what can be done to prevent and treat it. Most of us aren't for sale. There are sensitive, objective and simple tests for determining whether or not a compound causes genetic mutations in cells (Ames test). There are tests for whether or not a compound induces chromosome abnormaliti…

> whether I'm arguing with GMO-skeptics or climate-change-skeptics, I can't prove that this scientific consensus is worthy of your respect What about GMO-skeptics that belong to the scientific community?

Hence the word 'consensus'. There are plenty of scientists that don't believe in climate change. Most of them don't work on climate data. I've met vanishingly few biologists that think GMOs pose a health risk to humans.

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

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not asking you to believe anything from Monsanto. There is a vast field of researchers that care deeply about what causes cancer and what can be done to prevent and treat it. Most of us aren't for sale. There are sensitive, objective and simple tests for determining whether or not a compound causes genetic mutations in cells (Ames test). There are tests for whether or not a compound induces chromosome abnormaliti…

Note that this poster, Anselm Levskaya, did his post doc at Stanford, a university that receives hundreds of millions of dollars per year in "funding" from private (secret) sources, among them, companies like Monsanto and Cargill.

You're shouting conspiracy because I studied neuroscience at Stanford? Dude. Just glad you didn't dig up my links to the International Order of the Prismatic Leopard.

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

#238
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Food we've grown + consumed has a multi-millennium history of being safe The food we consume now has little resemblance past a visual one (and even not that in some cases), to food of the past. Time-tested? Only in the past 60 years or so have we actually been able to begin to understand the effects of any food, natural or GMO. That our ancestors didn't keel over immediately after consuming these "same" foods does…

The food we consume now has little resemblance past a visual one (and even not that in some cases), to food of the past. When did strawberries change?

Looks like we first cultivated "garden strawberries" in 1714[1]. Before that we just had "wild strawberries", which are small and not very sweet. I don't know now they've changed nutritionally (probably more sugar), and I doubt they've changed chemically.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry

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

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even read your own link?

Did you? Things like copper sulfate, etc are not exactly on the "great for humans" list.

So you also scanned and didn't read.

They're not pesticides and more importantly they are not poured on the crops. Read it.

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

#240

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'.…

Be prepared for the army of shills - this topic is one of the most targeted by shills.

Getcha tinfoil
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