| GMO deregulation threatens breeders, farmers, and the organic and non GMO sectors in the EU European countries must protect farmers, small- and medium-sized seed breeders, and the organic and GM-free sectors from threats to their business posed by the deregulation of new GMOs, warns Greenpeace and more than 200 other organisations, including GMWatch. In a joint statement published today, they push back against a compromise proposal to deregulate new GMOs tabled by Poland, taking the rotating role of president of the EU Council, which representatives from national governments will meet to discuss on 14 February. The Polish proposal covers GM crops and wild plants produced with new GM techniques (so-called ‘new genomic techniques’, NGTs), which can carry risks for both human health and the environment. The draft focuses on plant patents while ignoring other critical questions such as traceability, detection and identification, coexistence, and potential risks to nature and human health. The deregulation will increase the control that just a handful of companies have over seeds, disadvantaging small- and medium-sized breeders, thereby strengthening their corporate grip on farmers. GMWatch Glyphosate-based weedkillers may be harming infants Babies in rural counties of the United States that use glyphosate-based weedkillers are born slightly earlier and underweight, a large study finds. These changes, although small on average, could result in learning disabilities and an increased risk of infection, researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, resulting in more than $1 billion in health care costs nationwide each year. It’s a “very compelling and rigorous” study, says Eyal Frank, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago who was not involved. For the most vulnerable infants, in historically disadvantaged groups, the effect was significantly greater. Low birthweight is an important predictor of health problems, such as delayed cognitive development, and raises the risk of infection and noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. [GMW: Note that the title of the study, "Glyphosate exposure and GM seed rollout unequally reduced perinatal health", unequivocally links increase in glyphosate exposure to the rollout of GM glyphosate-tolerant seeds.] Science Hypothesis: Glyphosate-based herbicides can increase risk of blood cancers through extended persistence in bone Glyphosate levels detected in the urine of herbicide applicators and the public are relatively stable across space (urban vs rural) and time (weed spray season, not spray season). Metabolism data show that within minutes of entering the bloodstream, glyphosate moves into bone marrow, and then through bone tissue and back into general circulation. As glyphosate moves through bone it comes into contact with calcium and a portion is immobilised via chelation. A new scientific paper by Dr Charles Benbrook explores a novel two-part hypothesis: First, the likely reason for the lack of variability in glyphosate levels in urine is that glyphosate stored in bone is excreted gradually over days to weeks, and augments the generally stable and modest levels of dietary exposure to glyphosate; and second, the prolonged systemic movement of glyphosate into bone marrow and bone extends contact between glyphosate and blood-producing stem cells, increasing the risk of glyphosate-induced breaks and rearrangements in the DNA in these cells. Glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides can trigger oxidative stress and impair DNA repair mechanisms, thus potentially giving rise to blood cancers. Environmental Sciences Europe Communities victimised by pesticides in Maranhão, Brazil hold meeting On 7 February, the Rural Workers' Union of the municipality of São Mateus, in Maranhão, Brazil, brought together more than 100 family farmers affected by the rain of poison, dumped by aerial spraying in the region. In Maranhão, rural communities are facing a real chemical war. Airplanes and drones dump pesticides on plantations, contaminating food, rivers and sickening the population. After an 11-year ban, the Federal Court authorised the aerial spraying of glyphosate. Glyphosate [sprayed on GM glyphosate-tolerant soy in the region] is now being sprayed directly onto those who live and produce food in the countryside. Family farmers affected by the rain of poison have come together as their crops are destroyed, fish die in the rivers, and children suffer the impact. @GMWatch on X, translating tweets and article by Campanha Contra os Agrotóxicos e Pela Vida We hope you’ve found this newsletter interesting. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you! __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
Profiles: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch |
