Glyphosate is a chemical used in herbicides and recently became the most used agricultural chemical of all time.
In addition to being so extensively used, glyphosate has also proven to be highly controversial, with serious concerns being raised about its safety.
Here are some reasons why we do not use glyphosate on our farm.
1: It could be seriously Damaging your Health
There is an ongoing and heated scientific debate as to whether or not glyphosate is carcinogenic. While the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic in humans”. Glyphosate-based herbicides are used not only in agriculture, but also in public and private gardens, potentially putting both farmers as well as consumers at risk.
Studies also show that herbicides containing the chemical act like endocrine disrupters – substances which play havoc with our hormones, and which can impact on fertility.
2: It’s a threat to Animals and Plants
It’s not just human health that may suffer as a result of glyphosate. EFSA found a high long-term risk to animals, including farm animals such as cows and sheep. The German Environment Agency has also found significant adverse effects on biodiversity due to pesticides in general and glyphosate in particular. Glyphosate does not only kill target weeds, but also useful herbage in and close to fields treated with glyphosate.
3: GMOs and Glyphosate are two sides of the same coin
In many ways glyphosate and GMOs can be seen as two sides of the same coin. Of the 61 GMOs authorized in EU for import, more than half of them are glyphosate tolerant plants, designed to be used with that specific herbicide. They are both tools for the same kind of agriculture – one that is intensive, harmful to the environment and health, and bad for the local rural economy. Many cases of cancer and physical deformities have been reported in people and animals.
4: The Expansion of Harm
Glyphosate is harmful all by itself. But herbicides contain a cocktail of chemicals that can be more toxic than glyphosate alone, with even more risks for farmers as well as the general public.
In addition, glyphosate-resistant “super weeds” have already spread in the USA and Canada due to overuse of glyphosate-resistant GM crops. To stop the proliferation of these super weeds, even more resistant genetically engineered plant variety have been approved for commercial use that are resistant to multiple herbicides, including possibly more toxic and environmentally disruptive than glyphosate.
5: Gaps in the Evidence
EFSA indicated as a ‘critical concern’ that eight out of 24 applicants, presented specifications for glyphosate that were not supported by the toxicological assessment. In other words, the test data these applicants provided were for substances other than those they actually want to sell. In addition, EFSA’s report listed 22 data gaps in the evidence.
6: Lack of Transparency
Not only are there gaps in the evidence, key studies are being hidden from public scrutiny. Key conclusions of EFSA’s report with regard to the carcinogenicity of glyphosate are based on those unpublished studies, which were produced by the industry themselves. It is unacceptable that these unpublished studies are being allowed to outweigh the publicly available information.
7: There are Alternatives!
Organic farmers have demonstrated the same thing time and time again – glyphosate is not necessary for productive farming. The farming of the future is working with nature not against it. It relies on high biodiversity and a high variety of crops and structures, crucially avoiding the vast monocultures that attract pests in the first place, or the continuous cropping on fields that allows the pests to build up in soil and vegetation.
• Most farmers spray Milkweed as a noxious weed and destroy it, usually by spraying herbicide which kills both the milkweed and adult larvae. This happens along highway edges, public parks, in agricultural settings, and in residential developments.
• Pesticide use kills huge numbers of Monarch eggs, larva, and adults.
Agrochemical companies claim that glyphosate is safe for humans, animals, and the environment. But emerging scientific research on glyphosate’s deadly disruption of the gut microbiome, its crippling effect on protein synthesis, and its impact on the body’s ability to use and transport sulfur—not to mention several landmark legal cases— tells a very different story.
In Toxic Legacy, senior research scientist Stephanie Seneff, PhD, delivers compelling evidence based on countless published, peer-reviewed studies—all in frank, illuminating, and always accessible language.
Throughout Toxic Legacy readers will discover:
- The uniquely toxic nature of glyphosate
- How glyphosate disrupts the microbiome, leading to gut dysbiosis, autoimmunity, neurodegeneration, and more
- Why we’re seeing a rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, infertility, depression, and anxiety
- Glyphosate’s role in soil degeneration, water contamination, and threats to wildlife and biodiversity
- Important nutritional guidance for conscientious consumers who want to avoid glyphosate-contaminated foods and improve their health