Tell the EPA to protect our health and NOT raise the tolerance limits on glyphosate.

The EPA has issued a new rule raising the allowed residue levels of Monsanto’s herbicide glyphosate (Roundup) on food.

The EPA took this action even though the scientific evidence is growing that glyphosate can cause serious health problems. Glyphosate has been shown in several recent studies to be an endocrine disruptor, which can have long-term effects on public health, especially reproductive health, even at low levels.

A June 2013 study concluded that glyphosate “exerted proliferative effects in human hormone-dependent breast cancer.”(1) An April 2013 study by an MIT scientist concluded that “glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins,” and pointed out that glyphosate’s “negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body.” (2)

Tell the EPA to use the latest independent science rather than depending on industry-funded, outdated studies supplied by Monsanto!

TAKE ACTION

To submit your comment electronically, go to:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0132-0009

For the field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen,” and then use your name as “Submitter’s Representative.”

The deadline to submit comments is Monday, July 1 before midnight.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Add a sentence or two at the beginning about who you are and why you care, to personalize the comment.

The EPA’s decision to raise the allowable residue limits of glyphosate is based on outdated science and will endanger Americans’ health.

The toxicology profile for glyphosate is not “complete,” as the EPA claims. Ongoing research shows glyphosate may promote breast cancer, induce inflammation, and act as an endocrine disruptor.

I urge you to perform a careful review of independent science to determine the health impacts of raising the residue limit for glyphosate, and then take action to reduce the allowed residue limits.

MORE INFORMATION

Check out our GMO FAQs section and some of the scientific studies on glyphosate.

Why would Monsanto urge EPA to raise the amount of glyphosate allowed on our food? Presumably, it’s so they can continue to push genetically engineered glyphosate-resistant (often called “Roundup-Ready”) crops, which are designed to allow application after application of glyphosate directly to the crop. With non-genetically engineered crops, glyphosate cannot be directly applied to the crops and there would be no need to raise the residue levels.

So Monsanto will profit from the EPA’s action in two ways: sales of glyphosate and sales of genetically engineered seed.

Tell EPA to reverse its rule and protect the American public from glyphosate residues in our food!

References for the studies mentioned in the first section of this alert:
1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23756170
2) http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416