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In case you weren’t sure if massive use of the herbicide glyphosate (aka Monsanto’s Roundup™) was cause for concern, here’s the sobering takeaway from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology senior researcher who just scientifically reviewed the stuff:

“I’m certain at this point that glyphosate is the most important factor in an alarming number of epidemic diseases,” Stephanie Seneff said, who coauthored the review with retired environmental scientist Anthony Samsel.

The introduction of Roundup in 1973 has corresponded with a rise in the incidence of several conditions, including celiac disease (gluten intolerance), autism, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, obesity, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Parkinson’s and others.

What’s more, Roundup’s use – along with the occurance of many of these diseases – has gone stratospheric over the last 15 years, with the approval of Monsanto‘s “Roundup Ready” genetically modified crops, which are specifically engineered to tolerate massive exposure to glyphosate. Roundup is now used all over the world on staple crops like wheat and soy and has become the most widely used herbicide in the United States.

Despite these trends, the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration still consider glyphosate to be relatively safe and harmless, an opinion based largely on unpublished, industry-produced studies. That position is looking increasingly dangerous, and possibly wrong.

Tell the EPA and FDA: Immediately suspend the use of Monsanto’s Roundup until it can be proved safe.

Of course, just because two trends match does not mean those two things are related. And in the eyes of the scientific process, just because something looks, swims and quacks like a duck, doesn’t a duck make it.

But in the case of glyphosate, there are many reasons to believe it could be related to higher incidence of many diseases.

Glyphosate doesn’t just kill weeds. It is an antibiotic (which kills the gut bacteria that make up a significant portion of our immune system and digestive function), a chelator (which strips the body of nutrients needed to fight disease and perform other essential functions), an endocrine disruptor (which affects hormones and leads to birth defects), and impairs the liver’s ability to detox (allowing heavy metals to build up in our bodies). And we put nearly 200 million pounds of the stuff on our food each year!

Even worse, the so-called “inactive” ingredients in Roundup could be amplifying the toxic effects of glyphosate by orders of magnitude. One new study found Roundup’s overall concoction to be up to 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate alone. Yet Roundup’s approval is based on tests of only glyphosate, and does not take into account its possible interaction with other chemicals EPA considers safe.

Credo Petition

Another recent study has challenged Monsanto’s claim that glyphosate doesn’t accumulate in our bodies – the cornerstone of our government’s finding that Roundup is safe. It shows glyphosate levels in breast milk up to 1,600 times higher than the level Europe allows for individual pesticides.

Part of the challenge in finding an absolute link is that long-range, controlled studies are difficult to conduct – partially because of Monsanto’s efforts to control research money and block information.

So we, in effect, have all become unwitting subjects of Monsanto’s global Roundup experiment. There is ample evidence to suggest that this backward system of pesticide approval may have terrible implications for our health. The problem is much of this information is suppressed or difficult to access – proving that what you don’t know can hurt you.

The EPA and FDA should immediately suspend the use of Roundup. Sign the petition today.

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