This is what we are told, this is the reality. And it's kind of gross, and scary.

Back in the 70's, Monsanto was advertising their premier product Roundup as being "As safe as putting water on your plants".  The company made billions from selling this herbicide all over the world.  Billions.  They invented it, they did all the requited EPA testing for toxicity and environmental impact studies.  They themselves declared it harmless and they sold it to everyone from giant agribusiness farm corporations to the guy with grass growing in the cracks in his driveway.  The stuff was harmless, Monsanto itself said it was.  The company making the stuff.  The company that refused to admit that dumping a million pounds of PCB wastes into the streams near their plant in Arkansas had anything to do with 90% of the townspeople contracting horrific cancers.  They've never lied to anyone.  And all of their testing is rigorously done and totally unbiased.  That's why they advertised that Roundup was safe, environmentally friendly and harmless.  The first year that Monsanto held the patent on glyphosate, they sold a million pounds of the stuff.  Last year, they and now other manufacturers sold a hundred million pounds of it world wide.

Lately though, researchers around the world are looking at those safety results. And it don't look good.

That might be the reason that in 2007 the French government took Monsanto to court and won a judgement against the agrigiant for deceptive advertising practices and declared that Roundup, is not safe as advertised.

Yikes.

But it is after all, the French.  It isn't like they can be believed about anything.  They sort of fudge the truth a bit.  If you listen to them talk, they were all part of the Resistance in the War, they all did their part to end the oppression of the fascists by surrendering enmasse and forcing the Germans to feed them.  Every French whore that gave a German an STD was a hero of the republic.  You know, they just have exceptional views of themselves.  Not unlike a certain ex-wife of the author here.  So in reality, does that judgement seven years ago mean anything?

Well sort of.  Of the nearly three hundred reports I found showing the toxicity of Roundup, this one stands out probably because of where it was printed.  Scientific American.  A lot of people tell me I get my info from unreliable sources, but here we have a well known publication ( S A article )  telling us how the problem with toxicity is a real threat to humans and the environment.  To sum it up, the herbicide glyphosate really is not all that toxic, if used properly and according to directions, it won't kill you.  The problem is that Monsanto mixes the weedkiller portion of Roundup with "inert ingredients" and the EPA doesn't give a crap about them.  They are looking at the actual "active ingredient" or the glyphosate portion of the total package, and the stuff that does all the harm, although it doesn't kill the weeds, is the stuff that is not so great for humans and the environment.  It isn't important, according to the EPA, because it is not the "ACTIVE" ingredient.

Yikes!

Reread that paragraph, in it is a big portion of the problem, "if used properly and according to directions"  We have this mentality not just here, but all over the world; if a little bit is good, then a whole lot is going to be better.  From wine, women and good old rock and roll, (and of course chocolate) we as humans want to garner the most benefits from that which we can.  The reality is that last year one hundred million pounds of the stuff was sprayed on farms, fields, golf courses and driveways all over the world. And the adjuvant "inert" portion of the herbicide is in lakes, streams, rivers and in the groundwater of most of the world.  So far one researcher has taken the step of testing blood of a significant number of urban German citizens.  Measurable amounts of Roundup were in their blood.  All of them.  

In the March 2014 issue of the industry magazine "Toxicology" is an article written by some researchers that tested the effect of glyphosate on brains of fetal rats.  They tested both acute and chronic exposure.  The results were startling.  Roundup in even minute concentrations of as little as .00005 ppb affected the brain development of fetal rats.

Last year the EPA raised the allowable limits of glyphosate residue on farm crops to 200 ppb at the request of farmers, ranchers and Monsanto. 

Bon appetit!