On December 8, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced a lawsuit against Monsanto over toxic PCB chemicals polluting “every waterway in the state.” It marks the first time a state has ever sued the biotech giant. [1]
The largest peach grower in Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto alleging that the biotech giant is responsible for illegal herbicide use that is believed to have caused widespread crop damage in southeast Missouri and neighboring states. [1]
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On November 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved dicamba, a dangerously toxic herbicide designed by Monsanto for its next generation biotech soy and cotton varieties. [1]
Source: National Pesticide Information Center
The approval means that farmers will be able to use the new Xtendimax with Vapor Grip Technology formulation of dicamba to help control weeds in their crops that have become resistant to glyphosate and PPO (protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors). [2]
Several U.S. state attorneys general will join the pending federal antitrust investigations into the multi-billion dollar mergers between Bayer and Monsanto, and Dow and DuPont. [1]
The attorneys general will be able to provide data on how the prospective mergers – which are expected to be approved – would affect their jurisdictions and jointly conduct calls to gather information from the companies, their opponents, and supporters of the deals.
It appears that voters in Sonoma County, California, have banned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by a margin of 56-44%, unofficial results show. In 2005, Sonoma County voters shot down a similar measure by 5%. The ban reflects changing attitudes about the biotech industry, and its impact on the environment and human health. [1]
Source: SocialMediaFeed.me
Sonoma joins five other California counties that have already passed GMO bans: Mendocino, Marin, Trinity, Humboldt, and Santa Cruz.
Monsanto and Dow were 2 of the 9 wartime contractors hired by the US government to create Agent Orange, a combination of the toxic chemicals 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T, just over 40 years ago. The damage these chemicals have perpetrated on our health and environment did not end with the Vietnam War though.
Two new types of genetically modified (GM) potatoes were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 28. The GM potatoes are designed to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
Source: PotatoPro.com
The approval covers Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.’s Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties of the company’s 2nd generation of Innate potatoes.
Over the past 16 years, the number of children diagnosed with cancer in the U.K. has shot up 40%, a new study shows; and experts are warning of a cancer “epidemic.”
The reason? Modern life is making people sick.
A huge chemical leak sent a large plume marching its way through the town of Atchison, Kansas, this morning, and authorities asked residents to shelter in place for nearly 2 hours.
Source: The Kansas City Star
Those in the plume area were told to shut their doors and windows and stay inside, while those in its path were evacuated. Residents were being instructed to avoid the area north of MGP Ingredients, where the leak originated. The Atchison County courthouse closed and employees were evacuated.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been banned in the United States since 1979, but a new study by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that up to 14 million students in 26,000 U.S. public schools may still be exposed to the toxic industrial chemicals. [1
