The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reviewed data on glyphosate residues on crops and determined that "current exposure levels are not expected to pose a risk to human health." The review includes two reports examining crops grown for human consumption as well as crops used in animal feed. EFSA reportedly relied on comparisons between the diets of EU adults and children and the glyphosate intake values the agency recommended in 2015.
Tag Archives glyphosate
According to news sources, the Center for Food Safety, which lost its challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) decision to deregulate without restriction genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, plans to appeal the matter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A federal court in California determined on January 5, 2012, that the law does not require the agency to “account for the effects of cross-pollination on other commercial crops” in assessing whether a new crop poses risks. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti also reportedly said that USDA lacks the authority to require a buffer zone between GE crops and conventional or organic crops. Noting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of glyphosate on Roundup Ready® alfalfa, Conti further observed, “If plaintiffs’ allegations are true, then it is disturbing that EPA has yet to assess the effects of glyphosate on most of the species found near…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reportedly issued a temporary stay of a district court order mandating the destruction of 256 acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings that were, according to the lower court, planted illegally in September 2010. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 10-04038 (N.D. Cal., decided November 30, 2010). Press sources indicate that the Ninth Circuit’s postponement is scheduled to expire December 23, when the court will either allow the crop destruction to proceed or extend the stay until it can thoroughly review an appeal from the lower court order granting the plaintiffs’ motion to remedy violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by pulling the seedlings out of the ground. The seedlings were being grown to produce seed for future Roundup Ready® sugar beet crops, which are resistant to glyphosate, an ingredient in a popular herbicide. GE sugar beet critics contend…
In a 7-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a district court erred in enjoining the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from even partially deregulating Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa while the agency takes steps to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., decided June 21, 2010). The district court found that APHIS failed to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) as required under NEPA before granting Monsanto’s petition to deregulate the seed, which has been genetically modified (GM) to resist glyphosate, a weed killer used on GM crop fields. The court then enjoined APHIS from deregulating GM alfalfa until an EIS could be completed and further enjoined the seeds’ sale and planting beyond sales already made in March 2007. Farmers who had purchased the seed were allowed to plant it that year. Writing for the majority, Justice…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published a notice of its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically modified (GM) sugar beets. The agency had previously deregulated sugar beets genetically modified for glyphosate resistance without preparing an EIS and was ordered in September 2009 by a federal court in California to prepare one after its action was challenged by organic seed and nonprofit organizations. The court concluded that the environmental assessment which APHIS prepared failed to consider a number of environmental and related economic impacts of the GM crops. Thus, APHIS is planning to prepare an EIS and requests public comment by June 28, 2010, on the potential issues and reasonable alternatives it intends to include. Among those issues identified in the notice are data on production levels of organic and conventional sugar beets and other crops by region, state…
The National Research Council (NRC) has published a report finding that U.S. farmers who grow genetically engineered (GE) crops “are realizing substantial economic and environmental benefits – such as lower production costs, fewer pest problems, reduced use of pesticides, and better yields – compared with conventional crops.” The report cautions, however, that farmers “need to adopt better management practices to ensure that beneficial environmental effects of GE crops continue,” according to an April 13, 2010, NRC press release. Billed as the “first comprehensive assessment of the effects of the GE crop revolution on farm-level sustainability in terms of environmental, economic and social impacts,” the report notes that GE crops constitute more than 80 percent of soybeans, corn and cotton grown in the United States. It ranks “improvements in water quality” as the top environmental benefit of GE crops, claiming that a reduction in insecticide and pesticide use has led to…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted comments to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) indicating that it “does not object” to APHIS’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, prepared by court order after a successful court challenge to USDA’s decision to deregulate the bioengineered seed. Environmentalists convinced the court that APHIS erred in allowing GE alfalfa to be grown without conducting a detailed environmental review; they claimed that it would have deleterious effects on the environment and affect the livelihood of farmers who grow conventional or organic alfalfa. An injunction has been in place preventing the sale of GE alfalfa seed or its cultivation until the EIS is finalized. EPA did call for clarification to the EIS Surface Water discussion, which indicates that “glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethyphosphonate can be removed through standard water purification and disinfection processes such as ozonation and…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), responding to a directive issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. The agency has preliminarily determined that granting GE alfalfa nonregulated status will have “no significant impact on the human environment.” The draft, which runs more than 1,400 pages, will be available for a 60-day public comment period once it is published in the Federal Register. The agency will conduct four public meetings on the proposed EIS; they will take place in January and February 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada; Kearney, Nebraska; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Washington, D.C. The GE crop at issue is referred to as Roundup Ready® alfalfa, engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. The Ninth Circuit enjoined Monsanto from selling the GE seed and farmers from planting it until APHIS…
The Organic Center, Union for Concerned Scientists and Center for Food Safety have issued a report claiming that U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that the use of weed-killing herbicides on genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybeans and cotton has increased by 383 pounds over a 13-year period ending in 2008. According to the preface to the report, titled “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years,” this finding will be “news to the public at large, which still harbors the illusion, fed by misleading industry claims and advertising, that biotechnology crops are reducing pesticide use. Such a claim was valid for the first few years of commercial use of GE corn, soybeans, and cotton. But, as this report shows, it is no longer.” The report contends that widespread adoption of glyphosate-resistant crops “has vastly increased the use of glyphosate herbicide,” which “has spawned a growing epidemic…
