Fw: Monsanto's Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and EndangersHuman and Animal Health

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Monsanto's Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers

Human and Animal Health

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The following article reveals the devastating and unprecedented impact that

Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is having on the health of our soil, plants,

animals, and human population. On top of this perfect storm, the USDA now wants

to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, which will exacerbate this calamity. Please

tell USDA Secretary Vilsack not to approve Monsanto's alfalfa by using the

sample letter on our website " " here " [

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" by M.

Monsanto's Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and

Animal Health [ http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/664 ]

While visiting a seed corn dealer's demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr.

Don Huber walked passed a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating

severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on

the left (see photo). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death

Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and

'10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans

to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.

The diseased field on the right had glyphosate applied the previous season.

Photo by Don Huber

Don Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a

lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked

the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not

the other. " Did you plant something there last year that wasn't planted in the

rest of the field? " he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was,

the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season

by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of

the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn't received

glyphosate.

This was yet another confirmation that Roundup was triggering SDS. In many

fields, the evidence is even more obvious. The disease was most severe at the

ends of rows where the herbicide applicator looped back to make another pass

(see photo). That's where extra Roundup was applied.

Don's a scientist; it takes more than a few photos for him to draw conclusions.

But Don's got more-lots more. For over 20 years, Don studied Roundup's active

ingredient glyphosate. He's one of the world's experts. And he can rattle off

study after study that eliminate any doubt that glyphosate is contributing not

only to the huge increase in SDS, but to the outbreak of numerous other

diseases. (See selected reading list. [

http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/dangers-to-the-environment/referenc\

e-plant-effects-of-glyphosate ])

Sudden Death Syndrome is more severe at the ends of rows, where Roundup dose is

strongest. Photo by Amy Bandy.

Roundup: The perfect storm for plant disease

More than 30% of all herbicides [

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7456230/Title-Glyphosate-Occupies-More-T\

han.html ] sprayed anywhere contain glyphosate-the world's bestselling weed

killer. It was patented by Monsanto for use in their Roundup brand, which became

more popular when they introduced " Roundup Ready " crops starting in 1996. These

genetically modified (GM) plants, which now include soy, corn, cotton, canola,

and sugar beets, have inserted genetic material from viruses and bacteria that

allows the crops to withstand applications of normally deadly Roundup.

(Monsanto requires farmers who buy Roundup Ready seeds to only use the company's

Roundup brand of glyphosate. This has extended the company's grip on the

glyphosate market, even after its patent expired in 2000.)

The herbicide doesn't destroy plants directly. It rather cooks up a unique

perfect storm of conditions that revs up disease-causing organisms in the soil,

and at the same time wipes out plant defenses against those diseases. The

mechanisms are well-documented but rarely cited.

* The glyphosate molecule grabs vital nutrients and doesn't let them go. This

process is called chelation and was actually the original property for which

glyphosate was patented in 1964. It was only 10 years later that it was patented

as an herbicide. When applied to crops, it deprives them of vital minerals

necessary for healthy plant function-especially for resisting serious soilborne

diseases. The importance of minerals for protecting against disease is well

established. In fact, mineral availability was the single most important

measurement used by several famous plant breeders to identify disease-resistant

varieties.

* Glyphosate annihilates beneficial soil organisms, such as Pseudomonas and

Bacillus bacteria that live around the roots. Since they facilitate the uptake

of plant nutrients and suppress disease-causing organisms, their untimely deaths

means the plant gets even weaker and the pathogens even stronger.

* The herbicide can interfere with photosynthesis, reduce water use

efficiency, lower lignin , damage and shorten root systems, cause plants to

release important sugars, and change soil pH-all of which can negatively affect

crop health.

* Glyphosate itself is slightly toxic to plants. It also breaks down slowly in

soil to form another chemical called AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) which is

also toxic. But even the combined toxic effects of glyphosate and AMPA are not

sufficient on their own to kill plants. It has been demonstrated numerous times

since 1984

Glyphosate with sterile soil (A) only stunts plant growth. In normal soil (,

pathogens kill the plant. Control © shows normal growth.

that when glyphosate is applied in sterile soil, the plant may be slightly

stunted, but it isn't killed (see photo).

* The actual plant assassins, according to Purdue weed scientists and others,

are severe disease-causing organisms present in almost all soils. Glyphosate

dramatically promotes these, which in turn overrun the weakened crops with

deadly infections.

" This is the herbicidal mode of action of glyphosate, " says Don. " It increases

susceptibility to disease, suppresses natural disease controls such as

beneficial organisms, and promotes virulence of soilborne pathogens at the same

time. " In fact, he points out that " If you apply certain fungicides to weeds, it

destroys the herbicidal activity of glyphosate! "

By weakening plants and promoting disease, glyphosate opens the door for lots of

problems in the field. According to Don, " There are more than 40 diseases of

crop plants that are reported to increase with the use of glyphosate, and that

number keeps growing as people recognize the association between glyphosate and

disease. "

Roundup promotes human and animal toxins

Photo by Kremer

Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end

up in food and feed. Sudden Death Syndrome, for example, is caused by the

Fusarium fungus. USDA scientist Kremer found a 500% increase in Fusarium

root infection of Roundup Ready soybeans when glyphosate is applied (see photos

and chart). Corn, wheat, and many other plants can also suffer from serious

Fusarium-based diseases.

But Fusarium's wrath is not limited to plants. According to a report by the UN

Food and Agriculture Organization [

http://www.fao.org/docrep/u3550t/u3550t0e.htm ], toxins from Fusarium on various

types of food crops have been associated with disease outbreaks throughout

history. They've " been linked to the plague epidemics " of medieval Europe,

" large-scale human toxicosis in Eastern Europe, " oesophageal cancer in southern

Africa and parts of China, joint diseases in Asia and southern Africa, and a

blood disorder in Russia. Fusarium toxins have also been shown to cause animal

diseases and induce infertility.

As Roundup use rises, plant disease skyrockets

When Roundup Ready crops were introduced in 1996, Monsanto boldly claimed that

herbicide use would drop as a result. It did-slightly-for three years. But over

the next 10 years, it grew considerably. Total herbicide use in the US jumped by

a whopping 383 million pounds in the 13 years after GMOs came on the scene. The

greatest contributor is Roundup.

Over time, many types of weeds that would once keel over with just a tiny dose

of Roundup now require heavier and heavier applications. Some are nearly

invincible. In reality, these super-weeds are resistant not to the glyphosate

itself, but to the soilborne pathogens that normally do the killing in Roundup

sprayed fields.

Having hundreds of thousands of acres infested with weeds that resist plant

disease and weed killer has been devastating to many US farmers, whose first

response is to pour on more and more Roundup. Its use is now accelerating.

Nearly half of the huge 13-year increase in herbicide use took place in just the

last 2 years. This has serious implications.

As US farmers drench more than 135 million acres of Roundup Ready crops with

Roundup, plant diseases are enjoying an unprecedented explosion across America's

most productive crop lands. Don rattles off a lengthy list of diseases that were

once under effective management and control, but are now creating severe

hardship. (The list includes SDS and Corynespora root rot of soybeans, citrus

variegated chlorosis (CVC), Fusarium wilt of cotton, Verticillium wilt of

potato, take-all root, crown, and stem blight of cereals, Fusarium root and

crown rot, Fusarium head blight, Pythium root rot and damping off, Goss' wilt of

corn, and many more.)

In Brazil, the new " Mad Soy Disease " is ravaging huge tracts of soybean acreage.

Although scientists have not yet determined its cause, Don points out that

various symptoms resemble a rice disease (bakanae) which is caused by Fusarium.

Corn dies young

In recent years, corn plants and entire fields in the Midwest have been dying

earlier and earlier due to various diseases. Seasoned and observant farmers say

they're never seen anything like it.

" A decade ago, corn plants remained green and healthy well into September, " says

Bob Streit, an agronomist in Iowa. " But over the last three years, diseases have

turned the plants yellow, then brown, about 8 to 10 days earlier each season. In

2010, yellowing started around July 7th and yield losses were devastating for

many growers. "

Bob and other crop experts believe that the increased use of glyphosate is the

primary contributor to this disease trend. It has already reduced corn yields

significantly. " If the corn dies much earlier, " says Bob, " it might collapse the

corn harvest in the US, and threaten the food chain that it supports. "

A question of bugs

In addition to promoting plant diseases, which is well-established, spraying

Roundup might also promote insects. That's because many bugs seek sick plants.

Scientists point out that healthy plants produce nutrients in a form that many

insects cannot assimilate. Thus, farmers around the world report less insect

problems among high quality, nutrient-dense crops. Weaker plants, on the other

hand, create insect smorgasbords. This suggests that plants ravaged with

diseases promoted by glyphosate may also attract more insects, which in turn

will increase the use of toxic pesticides. More study is needed to confirm this.

Roundup persists in the environment

Monsanto used to boast that Roundup is biodegradable, claiming that it breaks

down quickly in the soil. But courts in the US and Europe disagreed and found

them guilty of false advertising. In fact, Monsanto's own test data revealed

that only 2% of the product broke down after 28 days.

Whether glyphosate degrades in weeks, months, or years varies widely due to

factors in the soil, including pH, clay , types of minerals, residues from

Roundup Ready crops, and the presence of the specialized enzymes needed to break

down the herbicide molecule. In some conditions, glyphosate can grab hold of

soil nutrients and remain stable for long periods. One study showed that it took

up to 22 years for glyphosate to degrade only half its volume! So much for

trusting Monsanto's product claims.

Glyphosate can attack from above and below. It can drift over from a neighbors

farm and wreak havoc. And it can even be released from dying weeds, travel

through the soil, and then be taken up by healthy crops.

The amount of glyphosate that can cause damage is tiny. European scientists

demonstrated that less than half an ounce per acre inhibits the ability of

plants to take up and transport essential micronutrients (see chart).

As a result, more and more farmers are finding that crops planted in years after

Roundup is applied suffer from weakened defenses and increased soilborne

diseases. The situation is getting worse for many reasons.

* The glyphosate concentration in the soil builds up season after season with

each subsequent application.

* Glyphosate can also accumulate for 6-8 years inside perennial plants like

alfalfa, which get sprayed over and over.

Long-term Field 2.jpg Wheat affected after 10 years of glyphosate field

applications.

* Glyphosate residues in the soil that become bound and immobilized can be

reactivated by the application of phosphate fertilizers or through other

methods. Potato growers in the West and Midwest, for example, have experienced

severe losses from glyphosate that has been reactivated.

* Glyphosate can find its way onto farmland accidentally, through drifting

spray, in contaminated water [

http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/glyphosate02.html ], and even through chicken

manure!

Imagine the shock of farmers who spread chicken manure in their fields to add

nutrients, but instead found that the glyphosate in the manure tied up nutrients

in the soil, promoted plant disease, and killed off weeds or crops. Test results

of the manure showed glyphosate/AMPA concentrations at a whopping 0.36-0.75

parts per million (ppm). The normal herbicidal rate of glyphosate is about 0.5

ppm/acre.

Manure from other animals may also be spreading the herbicide, since US

livestock consume copious amounts of glyphosate-which accumulates in corn

kernels and soybeans. If it isn't found in livestock manure (or urine), that may

be even worse. If glyphosate is not exiting the animal, it must be accumulating

with every meal, ending up in our meat and possibly milk.

Add this threat to the already high glyphosate residues inside our own diets due

to corn and soybeans, and we have yet another serious problem threatening our

health. Glyphosate has been linked to sterility, hormone disruption, abnormal

and lower sperm counts, miscarriages, placental cell death, birth defects, and

cancer, to name a few. (See resource list on glyphosate health effects. [

http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/health-risks/reference-health-effec\

ts-of-glyphosate ])

Nutrient loss in humans and animals

The same nutrients that glyphosate chelates and deprives plants are also vital

for human and animal health. These include iron, zinc, copper, manganese,

magnesium, calcium, boron, and others. Deficiencies of these elements in our

diets, alone or in combination, are known to interfere with vital enzyme systems

and cause a long list of disorders and diseases.

Alzheimer's, for example, is linked with reduced copper and magnesium. Don Huber

points out that this disease has jumped 9000% since 1990.

Manganese, zinc, and copper are also vital for proper functioning of the SOD

(superoxide dismustase) cycle. This is key for stemming inflammation and is an

important component in detoxifying unwanted chemical compounds in humans and

animals.

Glyphosate-induced mineral deficiencies can easily go unidentified and

untreated. Even when laboratory tests are done, they can sometimes detect

adequate mineral levels, but miss the fact that glyphosate has already rendered

them unusable.

Glyphosate can tie up minerals for years and years, essentially removing them

from the pool of nutrients available for plants, animals, and humans. If we

combine the more than 135 million pounds of glyphosate-based herbicides applied

in the US in 2010 with total applications over the past 30 years, we may have

already eliminated millions of pounds of nutrients from our food supply.

This loss is something we simply can't afford. We're already suffering from

progressive nutrient deprivation even without Roundup. In a UK study, for

example, they found between 16-76% less nutrients in 1991, compared to levels in

the same foods in 1940.

Livestock disease and mineral deficiency

Roundup Ready crops dominate US livestock feed. Soy and corn are most

prevalent-93% of US soy and nearly 70% of corn are Roundup Ready. Animals are

also fed derivatives of the other three Roundup Ready crops: canola, sugar

beets, and cottonseed. Nutrient loss from glyphosate can therefore be severe.

This is especially true for manganese (Mn), which is not only chelated by

glyphosate, but also reduced in Roundup Ready plants (see photo). One

veterinarian finds low manganese in every livestock liver he measures. Another

vet sent the liver of a stillborn calf out for testing. The lab report stated:

No Detectible Levels of Manganese-in spite of the fact that the mineral was in

adequate concentrations in his region. When that vet started adding manganese to

the feed of a herd, disease rates dropped from a staggering 20% to less than

½%.

Veterinarians who started their practice after GMOs were introduced in 1996

might assume that many chronic or acute animal disorders are common and to be

expected. But several older vets have stated flat out that animals have gotten

much sicker since GMOs came on the scene. And when they switch livestock from

GMO to non-GMO feed, the improvement in health is dramatic. Unfortunately, no

one is tracking this, nor is anyone looking at the impacts of consuming milk and

meat from GM-fed animals.

Alfalfa madness, brought to you by Monsanto and the USDA

As we continue to drench our fields with Roundup, the perfect storm gets bigger

and bigger. Don asks the sobering question: " How much of the hundreds of

millions of pounds of glyphosate that have been applied to our most productive

farm soils over the past 30 years is still available to damage subsequent crops

through its effects on nutrient availability, increased disease, or reduced

nutrient of our food and feed? "

Instead of taking urgent steps to protect our land and food, the USDA just made

plans to make things worse. In December they released their Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) on Roundup Ready alfalfa, which Monsanto hopes to reintroduce to

the market.

Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop in the US, grown on 22 million acres. It is

used primarily as a high protein source to feed dairy cattle and other ruminant

animals. At present, weeds are not a big deal for alfalfa. Only 7% of alfalfa

acreage is ever sprayed with an herbicide of any kind. If Roundup Ready alfalfa

is approved, however, herbicide use would jump to unprecedented levels, and the

weed killer of choice would of course be Roundup.

Even without the application of glyphosate, the nutritional quality of Roundup

Ready alfalfa will be less, since Roundup Ready crops, by their nature, have

reduced mineral . When glyphosate is applied, nutrient quality suffers even more

(see chart).

The chance that Roundup would increase soilborne diseases in alfalfa fields is a

near certainty. In fact, Alfalfa may suffer more than other Roundup Ready crops.

As a perennial, it can accumulate Roundup year after year. It is a deep-rooted

plant, and glyphosate leaches into sub soils. And " Fusarium is a very serious

pathogen of alfalfa, " says Don. " So too are Phytophthora and Pythium, " both of

which are promoted by glyphosate. " Why would you even consider jeopardizing the

productivity and nutrient quality of the third most valuable crop in the US? " he

asks in frustration, " especially since we have no way of removing the gene once

it is spread throughout the alfalfa gene pool. "

It's already spreading. Monsanto had marketed Roundup Ready alfalfa for a year,

until a federal court declared its approval to be illegal in 2007. They demanded

that the USDA produce an EIS in order to account for possible environmental

damage. But even with the seeds taken off the market, the RR alfalfa that had

already been planted has been contaminating non-GMO varieties. Cal/West Seeds,

for example, discovered that more than 12% of their seed lots tested positive

for contamination in 2009, up from 3% in 2008.

In their EIS, the USDA does acknowledge that genetically modified alfalfa can

contaminate organic and non-GMO alfalfa, and that this could create economic

hardship. They are even considering the unprecedented step of placing

restrictions on RR alfalfa seed fields, requiring isolation distances.

Experience suggests that this will slow down, but not eliminate GMO

contamination. Furthermore, studies confirm that genes do transfer from GM crops

into soil and soil organisms, and can jump into fungus through cuts on the

surface of GM plants. But the EIS does not adequately address these threats and

their implications.

Instead, the USDA largely marches lock-step with the biotech industry and turns

a blind eye to the widespread harm that Roundup is already inflicting. If they

decide to approve Monsanto's alfalfa, the USDA may ultimately be blamed for a

catastrophe of epic proportions.

Please send a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack [

http://action.responsibletechnology.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5161 ],

urging him not to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, and to fully investigate the

damage that Roundup and GMOs are already inflicting.

" International bestselling author and filmmaker M. is the

executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology [

http://responsibletechnology.org ]. His first book, Seeds of Deception: Exposing

Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered

Foods You're Eating [ http://seedsofdeception.com ], is the world's bestselling

and #1 rated book on GMOs. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health

Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods [ http://geneticroulette.com ], documents

65 health risks of the GM foods Americans eat everyday. To help you choose

healthier, non-GMO brands, use the Non-GMO Shopping Guide [

http://nongmoshoppingguide.com ].

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