Roundup is toxic - Stop spraying today!

Posted by admin on October 15th, 2007 at 05:43pm

“As safe as table salt!” said Monsanto, makers of the world’s most widely used herbicide - Roundup. Unfortunately, people bought this pitch, and continue to buy it today, despite the 1990’s ruling of a New York court forbidding Monsanto to describe their product as safe, non-toxic and as harmless as salt.

We are posting this as part of the Internet’s very first International Blog Action Day. If Tangergreen.com could give people one quick planet-saving, species-saving tip, it would be to stop using the herbicide, Roundup, created by Monsanto.

What is Monsanto?
Monsanto is considered by many to be Environmental Enemy Number 1. During the course of this corporation’s history, they have engineered and inflicted the following on the world and its people:

  • Agent Orange
  • Bovine Growth Hormones
  • Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
  • Carcinogenic Herbicides
  • PCBs
  • DDT

Monsanto’s documented history of lying to the public, suing small farmers and unleashing Frankenstein-like monster chemicals and organisms into our food chain, water supply and air is what has caused them to be considered the least ethical and most environmentally unconscious corporation in the world. Visit the Millions Against Monsanto website for further documentation of this corporation’s activities in our world.

What is Roundup?
Roundup has been aggressively marketed to homeowners, gardeners, landscapers and farmers since its unfortunate invention in 1976. It is a highly toxic herbicide, detrimental to the environment, plant life, animal life and the human species. Non-Monsanto-conducted studies have shown us that Roundup causes the following serious harms:

  • Liver damage
  • 50% increase of miscarriage in pregnant women exposed to Roundup
  • 90% decrease in production of the male sexual hormones in men exposed to Roundup
  • Poisoning of our vital groundwater
  • 70% decrease in amphibian biodiversity and 90% decrease in the numbers of tadpoles

If survival of our species is important to us, we need to take it very seriously that exposure to Roundup drastically destroys male hormone production at the same time as causing miscarriages in women. This assault on the human reproductive system is clearly a deadly combination in terms of our ability to regenerate the human species. The man at the local nursery may eagerly be recommending Roundup to you as the answer to the dandelions in your lawn, but is it worth it if the young couple next door to you discovers they cannot conceive or bare children because of your need for a weed-free yard? Certainly not.

Global warming and fungus are currently decimating our planet’s frog population. By pouring Roundup into the groundwater which then forms the pond and stream environments that are the homes of amphibians, we are literally dooming frogs and toads to extinction. The conclusive studies that have been conducted regarding Roundup’s lethal effect on frogs have been public knowledge for some years now, but the world power of Monsanto and the lack of concern of the American government are keeping it on the shelves. Roundup has been banned by the Danish government because of its documented harms to the environment, animals and humans.

Roundup effects everyone and everything that comes into contact with it, from bugs, to songbirds, to your children. Monsanto’s marketing efforts mean that one of your neighbors, someone next door, down the street, downtown, is likely spraying Roundup while you read this. This year, you and your children and pets will walk through Roundup-infected areas at school, the store, outside the mall, on public trails. New mothers will be pushing baby strollers through the invisible poison. The elderly and auto-immune deficient citizens will walk through Round-up while they are attempting to get exercise and fresh air. Roundup is the #1 cause of annual pesticide/herbicide-induced illnesses and injuries, according to the California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Programme. It needs to be pulled from shelves, out of our homes, out of our environment.

A Roundup-free World

In the 1940’s Monsanto began marketing their infamous product, DDT, to the world. Marketed as a wonder cure for all manners of things, and of course, perfectly safe, it was soon being sprayed on crops and humans all over the globe. It became the world’s most commonly applied chemical, as Roundup is today. Monsanto, typically, attempted to deny all reports of this deadly chemical
causing toxic residue buildup in the fatty tissues and milk of human beings, and damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system. They attempted to deny that DDT caused a songbird holocaust from which many bird populations have yet to recover. Public outrage, happily, won the day and DDT was banned in the 1970’s. Every time I see a Western Bluebird in my yard, I thank my stars that some few of them were left alive from the DDT genocide and that populations are only now beginning to become stable again.

DDT was marketed as a blessing to homeowners, gardeners and farmers. Roundup has been marketed to your community in the same way, and the same lies and denials are being used to keep it legal and profitable for the manufacturer. Roundup, ’safe as table salt’, is destroying our health and the vital biodiversity of our planet. Just like DDT, it needs to be banned.

Before DDT, before Roundup, before the onslaught of products created by the makers of chemical warfare were invented, farmers and homeowners maintained their lands and properties with manual labor. Crop rotation, the small farm, and the seasonal growing calendar enabled humans to grow enough food to feed everyone with no lasting damage to humans, genetics or the environment. Agribusiness, solely reliant on chemicals to produce chemical-laden ‘foods’, has changed the world in so many negative ways, has disenfranchised the small farmer, brought us dozens of new illnesses and created trillions of dollars of profits for unethical corporations like Monsanto. The price our planet is paying to keep Monsanto wealthy is simply too high.

Hand labor, the tool of our forefathers, is the answer to growing food or keeping your garden tidy. Keep your neighborhood safe for your neighbors, your planet safe for life - please, don’t use Roundup.

Under Organic Gardening

23 Comments for Roundup is toxic - Stop spraying today!

  • 1. SEO Igloo Blog » Ad&hellip  |  October 15th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

    […] joined up and promised to post something helpful about protecting the environment on our green blog Tangergreen.com about the toxicity of the world’s most widely used herbicide, Roundup. Tangergreen is our […]

  • 2. kim bailey  |  May 24th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

    hi,
    i agree. there is a lot wrong with pesticides used, herbicides used, and other toxins used. it affects everyones health and it is ridiculous to imagine it is even legal. something needs to be done.
    but, when you mention the statistics and harmful effects you should cite who did the research so when readers of this site want to go protest the use of it, they can make referrence to the studies done.
    -kim

  • 3. judy Staab  |  July 26th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Our lawn maintenance guy used Roundup for years and we lost three trees on one side (apple and two grapefruit) and wasn’t really aware of this toxic weed killer until a friend told us it was SOY Roundup and to stop.

    My question is, now that we have replanted two other trees to replace the others, will they come in contaminated (apple and grapefruit)? How long does the soil need to heal? What do you recommend to kills weeds?

    Thanks for your website — I was looking for real organic sweet pickle relish and thought Cascadian was good. I can’t stand what Whole Foods as pulled off (running down Wild Oats and taking them over) and now ripping off the consumer w/extraordinarily high prices and crappy quality! But now that they’re run out the competition, it stinks! Will hunt a few items down at Trader Joes but also must watch what they bring in as well. We definitely support our local farmers for produce. What a “pickle” we’re in throughout the U.S. :( Thanks, Judy

  • 4. admin  |  July 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Dear Judy,
    Your story should help others who employ yard maintenance workers to realize that they need to know what the workers are doing in the yard.

    The USDA classifies soil as organic after it has been pesticide free for 3 years. Unfortunately, they are notoriously lax about their definitions and regulations and organic just doesn’t mean what it used to.

    I do not have an answer as to how long your ground will be contaminated now that your workers have stopped using Roundup. If it’s been used for years on your land, my guess is that it would be many years before the chemicals and chemicals into which they break down would disappear from the ground. This is the tragedy of herbicide and pesticide use…it poisons soil for future generations.

    I wish I had more definite or happier information for you. You are right to be concerned about the toxicity of your land, now that it is has been contaminated with herbicide, and even more importantly, the health of you family, now that you have been exposed to these carcinogenic toxins. I am very, very sorry that this happened to you.

    My suggestions for your future safety would be to replace your yard workers with skilled organic maintenance people who understand that poison is not to be used on your land or around your family. Your health and your ability to grow food for your family is much too precious to put at risk for the sake of a dandelion-free lawn.

    Good luck, and thank you for taking the time to share your story, Judy.

  • 5. sasha stone  |  September 10th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    Thank you for the information! My neighbor uses Roundup and it killed my Matilija Poppy but it grew back this year. I am very concerned about the contamination of my orchard from her spraying and will copy this article to give to her and her kids!!!

  • 6. admin  |  September 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Dear Sasha,
    I’m glad this article was helpful to you. Hopefully your neighbor will take it to heart and stop exposing your family and his/hers to these terrible toxins.

  • 7. Joan Kay  |  September 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    I am anti chemical dont like any of them as I know the danger of them.It makes my blood boil when people say Roundup wont hurt you even to the degree thta you can drink it thats how ignorant they are. But then its only them who suffer in the long term of health problems. I dont use any chemicals in my home good old Vinegar & water & Bicarb Soda.No wonder people are suffering health problems because of their ignorance to all the chemicals available today

  • 8. admin  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    Hello Joan,
    Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this. Soda and vinegar and good old water are all you need to get things perfectly clean, you’re right!

    And I am glad you aren’t using chemicals like Roundup. It is just a terrible danger to all of us, and very hard that we have no way of stopping our neighbors from using it and subjecting us to toxic trespass. At least we can choose not to use it ourselves, and to tell everyone we care about to stop using this bad stuff.

    Thanks again for stopping by.

  • 9. Alex  |  December 12th, 2008 at 9:54 am

    Joan Kay & admin. How do you know that vinegar and soda applied to the natural environment isn’t doing more harm than good?

    Did you know that the first known use of a “pesticide” took place around 2500 B.C. when ancient peoples used sulfur on crops to combat destructive insects. What I’m getting at is man, since the beginning of time has evolved with and prospered with the help of pesticdes.

    Anything in our environment has the potential to be “toxic.” Water is “toxic” when consumed in high enough quantities (hyponatremia). Today, after an average of eight to ten years and $40-$60 million dollars to develop each individual pesticide on the market, all overseen and approved by the Federal EPA, not the mention the other various state agencies that also regulate the pesticide industry, making it one of, if not, the most heavily government regulated industries in the nation: Why after all this, do some of you have so much animosity towards pesticides?

    To answer Judy’s question about lasting effects of roundup in the soil. Roundup is rendered inactive almost immediately after it comes in contact with soil. It’s fast adsorption by soil is one of the great things about the product. You can plant almost immediately after application to soil.

    Now, I’m sure I’ve angered many of you with this post. I would just like to see rational discussion on this topic.

  • 10. Eve Broadbent  |  May 9th, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    We had our lawn mowed for the first time 2 days ago. That evening out kitten became very sick and passed away last night. The man used roundup to kill some weeds, I told him we had pets but assured me it was safe and all the councils use it. My kitten had a very painful death, she had liver and kidney failure which was brought on so suddenly it didn’t show up on her blood tests. Te vet cannot be sure what killed her but from reading up on roundup its starting to sound like this may have been the cause of her death.

  • 11. admin  |  May 10th, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Dear Eve,
    Thank you for coming here to share your story, and please let me express to you how sad I feel about your poor little kitten. That is truly heartbreaking.

    Yes, the liver is one of the key areas damaged by Roundup. Your kitten may have inhaled or ingested the spray playing in or near the spray area, or may have drunk from a water source that was contaminated with Roundup.

    One of the worst things about herbicides is that people often don’t learn of their hazards until after illness or death has occurred to a loved one or pet. People like your lawn care guy (and your city council) have had Roundup marketed to them as safe, and they believe the marketing pitch and then they pass that on to customers and citizens, usually oblivious to the fact that they are also passing along the potential for chronic disease and death every time they spray.

    Some people and animals fall ill after a single exposure to Roundup, whereas others are slowly poisoned by repeat exposure to it and wind up with wrecked health in the form of diseases like Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, Autism or one of the other conditions that some doctors believe are triggered by an overload of toxins in the body.

    For you, I believe there are 3 important things for you to do right now.

    1) Fire your lawn care person. TELL HIM that you believe his spraying of Roundup may have killed your pet. It can be hard to confront someone with this kind of information, but if you let him know that his actions may have killed a valued family companion animal, it may save the lives of your neighbors and pets if the man actually listens to you. Then, if you need help with caring for your lawn, hire someone who is willing to do manual labor, pulling weeds and mowing your lawn. Toxic chemicals are completely unnecessary so long as we have our own two good hands.

    2) Avoid walking in the areas he sprayed. There is nothing I know of you can do to rid your property of the chemicals. Monstanto claims that Roundup magically dissipates, but who knows what actually happens with it. You must now consider the sprayed areas of your yard to be contaminated, and must also take into account the fact that spray drifts on the air and breeze and so is likely all around the area that was sprayed. *DO NOT plant any type of food plants anywhere in or around the spray area. No vegetables or fruits.

    3) Keep sharing your experience with others. Roundup use is terribly rampant in the USA. Chances are, many of your neighbors have it in their garages. Tell everyone you can think of about the loss of your kitten following the use of Roundup in your yard. This is vital information, and honors the loss of your poor little friend, potentially protecting countless other pets from disease and death.

    I am truly, truly sorry for your loss, Eve. I know that nothing can bring back your companion animal or your happiness in your kitten’s life and friendship. Yet, you can try to make some good come of this tragic loss if you share your very tough lesson with your neighbors and friends in order to protect them from having to know the sorrow you are feeling right now.

    Best Wishes.

  • 12. Jean Madden  |  May 17th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    My brother used Roundup spray on the weeds around our mobilehome two weeks ago. We have been sick since then, fever, aches, no energy, no appetite. We didn’t put it all together until today when he researched Roundup online. This is terrible that such poison is everywhere, easily available at Home Depot, Target, WalMart and the instructions for its use are hidden in tiny print on an attached booklet - which few people look at. The FDA must do their job. I am going to write them, my congresspeople and the president. This is wrong!
    Jean

  • 13. betty morgan  |  May 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    The area around my apartment was sprayed with Roundup last week and I have been feeling sick ever since. If I use my hose and water over my area, will that dilute or get rid of Roundup?
    thanks very much,
    Betty

  • 14. admin  |  May 18th, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Dear Jean & Betty,
    I awoke to find both of your comments today. As you can see from the fact that both of you are having the same experience at the same time, despite the fact that you probably live at opposite ends of the country, the prevalence of Roundup use and poisoning is really serious.

    I urge both of you to call the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 and speak to them about your symptoms. You may need to see a doctor.

    Betty - I would not recommend that you hose off the Roundup for two reasons:

    1) It could reactivate the chemicals in it and make you sicker. I don’t know if this is the case with Roundup, but it is the case with some herbicides and pesticides and I have heard of people becoming sick all over again by spraying water on a sprayed area.

    2) Likely you would simply spread the round up into a wider area, and possibly - depending on how your property is situated - into the road where it would go into drainage ditches and end up in your local water supply. This second concern is one that drives me crazy every time I see people spraying roundup on the borders of their property. They are literally pouring roundup into their own drinking water.

    Please, call poison control and as them what you should do.

    I am so sorry that both of you have been sickened. Betty, you should definitely report this to your apartment manager and ask him/her to find an alternative to using toxins in the complex. Explain to him that you have been researching the health harms of Roundup. You might even send him this article if you have his email address so that he can see the damages for himself.

    Please, don’t forget to start telling family and friends about your experience with this herbicide. The more people understand the truth about Roundup, the less people will buy it.

    Hang in there!

  • 15. Leia  |  May 25th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    I have 4 dogs that got really sick after spraying Roundup. They all were vomiting and two have had severe projectile reflux. THIS STUFF IS POISON. We had rain for two days, and the dogs got so much better. I am assuming the rain did wash the chemicals away. Well 2 days ago I sprayed again and they all got sick again, so I know it is the Roundup.

  • 16. admin  |  June 7th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    Dear Leia,
    Please, take any leftover Roundup you have to a toxic waste dump and stop endangering your own health, let alone the health of your dogs. Every time you spray this poison, you are taking a chance that you may become permanently debilitated with an herbicide-induced disease.

    I am so sorry you accidentally poisoned your dogs. As you can see from the above comments, countless Americans make this same mistake every year, despite the love they have for their pets. Monstanto has marketed RoundUp as safe. They even once had a commercial showing a dog spraying Roundup…which, of course, neglected to mention that the dog would sicken or die after doing so.

    It is very painful to learn a lesson like this at the expense of your beloved pets, but now you know the truth about herbicide. There are no safe herbicides or pesticides and the use of any of them is a threat to your life, the lives of your neighbors and all domestic and wild animals where you live.

    Take heart. Take the Roundup to a toxic waste dump and tell everyone you know what you’ve found out.

    Thank you for taking the time to comment here.

  • 17. Susan Sopira  |  June 10th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    My husband sprayed weeds in our back yard with Round up a few weeks ago. Our son came over to visit that evening with his dogs, one of which is small (about 12 lbs.) She rolled in the grass and played outside that evening. By the following evening, she was vomiting repeatedly, shaking uncontrollably and was barely able to walk. It was at night, so we could not take her to the vet. These symptoms lasted about 6-8 hours and then she recovered and has been fine since. Do you think this was due to the RoundUp?

  • 18. admin  |  June 10th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

    Dear Susan,
    Although the symptoms your son’s dog displayed are consistent with herbicide poisoning, it’s never possible to say that something definitely caused a pet’s illness without extensive testing that would be able to identify the toxins in the animal’s hair, blood or organs.

    I am really glad your son’s dog recovered. You have been lucky this time. Please, sit down with your husband and reach an agreement not to further endanger your family dogs (or yourselves!) by putting poisons into your own environment. Next time, your dog might not recover and I want to spare you from that awful bereavement as well as the potential for you to wind up with a permanent herbicide-induced illness that could cripple what you think of as normal daily life. This has happened to countless Americans and we need to arrive at a zero tolerance for toxins policy if we value our lives.

    Tell your husband for me, real men use weedwhackers! My husband loves his and it keeps our yard quite tidy, without any herbicide use at all.

    Best of luck, and thank you for coming to share your story.

  • 19. Cindy  |  July 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    Can you tell me how long the chemicals in Round Up will be toxic if spilled in an enclosed area such as a basement?
    Thank You, Cindy

  • 20. admin  |  July 3rd, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Dear Cindy,
    I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question, but I would suggest you find a toxic waste cleanup company and tell them what happened and see what they think you should do.

    In the meantime, if your furnace is located in your basement, I wouldn’t run it as it could potentially draw the toxic fumes up into your upper house and cause you harm. If your basement has any means of ventilation, I would open it up to the max.

    I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m hoping your local phone book or local government or the Internet can help you locate something under the heading of hazardous waste or toxic waste cleanup. Good luck.

  • 21. Marie Schrader  |  November 17th, 2009 at 5:04 am

    Please help me! My son is spraying Roundup on his property and he has 2 little children and 2 dogs. I have tried convincing him of the health dangers to his family and pets and he does not believe me. The children already have health issues, asthma, obesity, ADHD, irritable bowel syndroime, etc. and they are only 5 and seven years old. I am really scared and need a good article or report on the dangers of using Roundup to present to him. Thanks for your help. Marie Schrader, Gardnerville, NV

  • 22. admin  |  November 17th, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    Dear Marie,
    I am so sorry about what is happening in your family. Your son is absolutely endangering the health of his family by using this toxic herbicide. In addition to showing your son this article and all of the comments on it from people who have accidentally poisoned their pets, here is a good one:

    http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4574.cfm

    I would suggest you search Google for further articles on Roundup’s Toxicity. There are many, many articles on this subject.

    I hope you can tell your son that this is one time he should rely on his mother’s wisdom.

  • 23. Kim Usher  |  May 4th, 2010 at 9:16 pm

    The effects of roundup if it doesn’t kill you is long lasting. I keep on telling people but it’s very hard when there is so much denial on the part of humans who can’t believe that there are certain factions who simply do not care if our health is affected; it’s more important to make money. As I lay almost dieing in bed for a year I would have given any amount of money to get better, but no amount of money could give me back my health. The only thing that can make me better is time and you can’t buy that either. That’s why patience and eye on the prize– my health and roundup accepted as a deadly product– are very good goals.

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