The European Commission’s proposed revamp of the system would make indefinite greenlighting — including of the controversial glyphosate, which has been linked to cancer and kills almost all plant life — the default.
Ecologists and medical experts, however, have spoken out forcefully against the proposed changes, saying the potential implications for human health and the environment are being downplayed.
In September, more than 500 experts from across the EU signed an open letter calling on the European Parliament to suspend its consideration of the new regulations and conduct an independent investigation into health and environmental impacts.
I want to point out that the link between glyphosate and cancer - while true - is also populism. It is indeed cancerous, but in incredible amounts no one will ever be able to consume, i.e. actually drinking it. It is basically as cancerous as hot tea. I’m not commenting on the effects on other plants, I’m just pointing out the facts.
Indeed. Many of the cases reported on in media are extreme. For example that woman who sued because glyphosate caused her to have a miscarriage. She dropped a whole container of roundup all over her body. That’s an extremely different case than the parts per billion found in food at the grocery store. I like to compare it to household bleach. The one handling the bleach has to be very careful because it’s dangerous in its raw form. But no one should have to be afraid of wearing clothes washed in bleach the correct way.
Many of the animal studies on glyphosate put either large amounts of it in their food or as one study did, literally sprayed it on the rats faces once per day. The only conclusion that can be drawn by that is that the one spraying it has to take caution not to spray it on themselves.