Roundup: Harmful to humans?

Sri Lanka has banned the use of Roundup, the second most widely used U.S. weed killer. Brazil is thinking about doing the same, and Mexico, the Netherlands, and Canada are considering to impose new rules and restrictions according to National Geographic. Why? The chemical glyphosate used in Roundup may be linked to many adverse health effects, including kidney disease, cancers, and hormone disruption in pregnant women by killing embryonic, placental, and umbilical cord cells. Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup, declines current studies either because they do not reflect realistic usage of their product, or because their "decades" worth of "comprehensive safety assessments" have not shown these links because glyphosate acts on an enzyme only present in plants, not mammals. Many studies are saying otherwise. We've been wrong in the past (DDT), so what makes us believe we couldn't be wrong now? There may be no immediate short-term effects, but what about long-term?

Studies that prove health agencies need to reconsider the safety of Roundup include: Gilles-Eric Seralini's team at the University of Caen in France, an Argentine scientist and local activists, a Swedish scientific team, a Croatian team, ecologists at the University of Pittsburgh, the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (based on work by the scientists at the National Cancer Institute), and 250+ environmental, health and labor organizations who have petitioned for the EPA to change the pesticide's ingredient requirements. These studies found many, or links to, adverse health effects due to exposure to Roundup, including: birth defects and miscarriages, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease, and other cancers.

Monsanto's solution to plants acquiring an immunity to glyphosate is to spray more and stronger pesticides to eliminate the problem, according to John Deike of Eco Watch. I don't know about you, but 50.2% already seems like quite a high concentration to me. If studies are indeed using abnormally high amounts of the chemical on cells right now, everlasting increases of concentration to keep combating the immunity problem now will someday meet the same amounts labs were using, therefore producing the same deadly results they were seeing. We're already starting to see glyphosate outside of gardens and crops (in 75% of rainfall samples near Mississippi's agricultural delta region).

Crystal Gammon of Environmental Health News explains to us that glyphosate alone may not be harmful, but when mixed with other ingredients in the product, it can multiply the toxic effects, even at diluted concentrations. One of these other ingredients, POEA, alone "was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself." Right now, Monsanto does not have to publicly disclose information about what comprises "OTHER INGREDIENTS." That needs to change.

Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power plants are built to provide power to cities using nuclear reactors as the heat source to produce steam that turns mechanical energy into electrical energy. Nuclear power is important for many reasons including low fuel costs, but they can also be detrimental to our environment if something goes wrong, and they have gone seriously wrong a few times. One accident occurred nearby at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania in 1979, the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine had an accident in 1986, and the most recent explosion occurred after an earthquake-tsunami disaster struck Fukushima, Japan in 2011. There are many different reasons that would cause a nuclear power plant to fail, but there are a handful of horrible effects it has on the surrounding environment, including plants, animals, and even humans.

The main fallout of nuclear power plant leaks or explosions is radiation that travels through the air and destroys DNA in cells. According to Marc Lallanilla of LiveScience, the trees that surrounded the Chernobyl plant died by the high levels of radiation released by the explosion of reactor number 4. An entire forest was devastated because of violations in safety regulations and a design flaw. Radioactive material can also find its way into the water. Since the Fukushima incident, scientists have also seen levels of radiation in fish and the surrounding sea life according to another LiveScience article written by Tanya Lewis. The sea life maybe contaminated so much that it would be unwise for humans to consume it. Radiation can also effect humans in a more disastrous way. Thyroid cancer can (and did in Chernobyl) develop in children and pregnant women due to sensitivities of radioactive iodine, says Hiroko Tabuchi in the New York Times. The thyroid gland is a very important gland for growth and regulation that surrounds the windpipe in your throat.

At least 4,000 cases in children have been linked to the disaster of Chernobyl, even though the residents of Pripyat were evacuated 36 hours after the accident occurred.

Radiation is difficult to detect because you can't see it with the naked eye and not everyone owns a Geiger counter. So if you ever find yourself in a situation where the following symbol is displayed, take major precautions because there is a radioactive source in the area.