
Herbicide glyphosate under fire worldwide, gets banned by Austria - Ultramanoid
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/03/business/herbicide-glyphosate-fire-worldwide-gets-banned-austria/
======
smilliken
Its presence in food should require labeling so that consumers can make an
informed decision and the market can reach consensus. The world is big enough
for everyone to disagree about what's safe to be in our food, and for everyone
to still get what they want, but it only works with transparency.

For example, US PIRG tested 20 beer and wine brands and found that 19
contained glyphosate, but how does the consumer know?
[https://www.ecowatch.com/glyphosate-beer-
wine-2630077686.htm...](https://www.ecowatch.com/glyphosate-beer-
wine-2630077686.html)

Here's a page with citations to relevant research:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/)

------
Sophistifunk
Is there actually any consensus as to whether it does cause cancer, or how
much you have to use it for ill effects? All I ever see in these stories are a
list of lawsuits in CA (which doesn't count for much, TBH), various places
it's been banned "as a precaution", and much rejoicing in the peanut gallery
because bad things are happening to Monsanto.

~~~
xxpor
From what I've read, glyphosate itself is pretty safe (how it works should
only affect pathways that exist in plants).

The issue is more about the stuff it's dissolved in to be sprayed.

~~~
codr7
Shouldn't that be "exist in plants, gut bacteria and whatever else we haven't
figured out yet"?

~~~
manicdee
Irrelevant considering the stuff glyphosate is mixed with, including
emulsifiers, surfactants, stabilisers, buffers, solvents.

The cocktail is designed to protect the solution in storage and transport,
make it easy to mix into batches for spraying, atomise cleanly when sprayed,
but then cling to whatever it is sprayed on, then get absorbed into the plant
quickly.

It is those chemicals which cause wet membrane irritation, chemical burns,
skin irritation and inflammation, etc.

The glyphosate itself is basically harmless to humans and any effect it might
have on gut flora is overshadowed by the damage RoundUp will do to your throat
and gut on the way through.

Basically remember to follow the directions including appropriate PPE: gloves,
dust/mist breathing mask and eye protection.

~~~
codr7
Given that gut flora is connected to everything and involved in many common
conditions and more to come, I think that's pretty significant.

It's also further proof that Monsanto is full of shit, always deceiving and
lying as much as they can get away with. How much is it going to take before
we make them stop?

Or, don't spray poison on food?

------
londons_explore
The patent on it (and the roundup-ready crops) has expired, so there is a
strong financial incentive for the company behind it to ban it's own product.

------
hcrisp
The patent for Roundup has expired, which is why there are a lot of generic
versions of glyphosate also now available. So this isn't really just about
Monsanto / Bayer?

------
willustration
So safe you can drink it!! suuuuuuure....

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKw6YjqSfM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKw6YjqSfM)

------
lettergram
Strange..

> The final assessment of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines
> Authority in 2017 was that "glyphosate does not pose a carcinogenic risk to
> humans".

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_%28herbicide%29](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_%28herbicide%29)

~~~
striking
The headline is about Austria banning it (not Australia).

~~~
agumonkey
The thing is, many different bodies have different conclusion about
glyphosate.

~~~
senectus1
yeah but the coalition in Australia (which is in power atm) can hardly be
trusted to _do the right thing_ here.

They're bought and owned by agri-farming and big business.

------
jitl
I couldn’t agree more. This is “Roundup”, primarily marketed by the most
despicable rent-seeking companies that try their hardest to exploit asymmetric
markets and push risk - including health risk - onto farmers.

~~~
i_am_nomad
What risk from glyphosate are you talking about, exactly?

~~~
la_fayette
[https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/4/4449](https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/4/4449)

~~~
lettergram
For reference.. that’s pretty weak, they just suggest there is a positive
correlation with a whole bunch herbicides in uncontrolled and unknown vectors.

I agree with the authors assessment that research should be done, but this is
very far from conclusive.

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
>Glyphosate, which was totally banned by Austria’s parliament on Tuesday, is
the world’s most widely used herbicide but there have been growing attempts
around the world to stop its use.

There is no ideal “all natural” world. The truth is, you will not be able to
feed 7 billion people without using pesticides. With glyphosate, we have a
chemical that has seen use for decades in large amounts and even now the case
for it actually being harmful to humans is pretty weak. What will happen is
that because you need pesticides to support the crop yields necessary for 7
billion people, you will end up with a less well tested pesticide that will
end up causing even more problems.

~~~
devoply
Truth is 7 billion people are an exponential bacterial like growth which under
natural circumstances should collapse and is instead collapsing the entire
planet and the rest of its living population with its tech to sustain its
unsustainable growth... and arguments to humanism and capitalism are used to
justify its ludicrous behaviour which is completely unnecessary and easily
controlled through birth control.

Bring food supply in line with carrying capacity or destroy the planet,
scientifically the options are simple, politically while espousing humanist
rhetoric like how do we feed the hungry it's impossible.

~~~
pkaye
> Truth is 7 billion people are an exponential bacterial like growth

Quite a few countries are under replacement fertility rate. China is below.
India is almost there.

~~~
devoply
Economic growth is the same as population growth. When the population
increases consumption increase. Economic growth is increase in number of goods
and services produced which leads to more consumption per person, which in
most cases leads to greater use of natural resources per person. Hence
countries in the West who have smaller populations consume much more than
poorer countries with less economic development.

Most of those countries claiming to have replacement level fertility are still
growing either through immigration or through economics. This is the case
across the board... If they are not then they are considered in trouble as is
the case with Japan.

------
ryanmarsh
Is Glyphosate a herbicide, or a desiccant? They are different.

~~~
sitharus
It's both. It's applied just before harvest to non-glyphosphate-resistant food
crops as a desiccant, and directly to unwanted plants as a weedkiller.

