EPA and Monsanto covered up glyphosate-cancer connection for decades

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 by: Amy Goodrich
Tags: glyphosate, cancer link, EPA cover-up

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(NaturalNews) For at least 35 years Monsanto and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knew about the cancer-causing abilities of glyphosate-containing herbicides. Nonetheless, they chose to cover it up, putting you, your family and millions of Americans at risk.

Monsanto is the world's leading producer of genetically engineered or modified seeds. They also manufacture Roundup, the glyphosate-based herbicide used by farmers worldwide to kill weeds. According to Monsanto's annual report, Roundup raked in over $994 million in net sales between 2013 and 2014.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is absorbed through leaves and roots and carried internally by the plant to its growing points. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, over 2.6 billion pounds of Roundup was sprayed on U.S. farmland between 1992 and 2012.

Manipulating data

Data has been released that Monsanto and the EPA knew that glyphosate causes cancer in mammals as early as 1981. In fact, studies conducted as early as the late 1970s documented cancer caused by glyphosate in lab animals, including, dogs, mice and rats. Monsanto, with the EPA's cooperation and complacency, intentionally and knowingly hid this information from investors, consumers and the public.

Monsanto used the excuse that the findings of the studies were "trade secrets." Monsanto successfully manipulated the data from the studies giving the false impression that Roundup was safe for its intended use.

Uncovered EPA memos and internal correspondence from the early 1980s uncover a very different story. The same studies that Monsanto misrepresented to state that Roundup was a safe product, in fact state that glyphosate causes irreversible damage to the kidneys as well as hyperplasia in rats.

Hyperplasia is the increase of healthy cells in tissue or organs, and typically represents a precancerous condition.

The released documents from the EPA show that by 1980 the test animals had developed hyperplasia and malignant tumors. Still, neither the EPA nor Monsanto released this information to consumers or the public.

To convince the EPA to suppress the damning study findings, Monsanto presented conflicting evidence from studies that they had performed. However, in those studies, Monsanto significantly reduced the amount of glyphosate given to the lab rats.

The memorandums and internal correspondence recently revealed from the EPA state that the lab rats were only given 1/100 of the amount of glyphosate given in the original studies. There was no explanation or scientific reasoning given for this dramatic decrease.

Glyphosate a probable human carcinogen

In March of 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. The more severe side effects of glyphosate exposure include melanoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, bone cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer.

Immediately following the WHO announcement, law firms across the country began signing up Roundup exposed claimants diagnosed with cancer. The plaintiffs include farmers, farm workers, agricultural workers, those living close to farmland and their families.

One Californian farmer, Jack McCall, stopped using Roundup after 30 years, when he first learned of glyphosate's link to cancer. Unfortunately, it was too late for Mr. McCall. He had already developed a rare version of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and died in December 2015. His wife has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Monsanto.

Monsanto in collaboration with the EPA intentionally covered up the fact that the active ingredient in Roundup causes cancer, and they continued to cover it up for over 35 years.

If the public can't trust the EPA, whose sole mission is to protect human health and the environment, including by protecting them from cancer-causing pesticides being used on U.S. crops, whom can they trust?

Monsanto will stop at nothing to achieve global food domination. It is therefore crucial to grow your own organic, chemical-free food. Even if you don't have a garden, your windowsill or balcony will do just fine.

Sources for this article include:

EcoWatch.com

MedicineNet.com

BaumHedlundLaw.com

Monsanto.com^[PDF]

NaturalNews.com