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Updated 15.26
A CHEMICAL CURRENTLY being used as a herbicide in Dublin could potentially be cancer causing.
The chemical, known as glyphosate but sold under the brand name Roundup, has been classified as “probably carcinogenic” to humans by the International Agency on the Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
On their classifications, the IARC has stated they are technically measuring “hazards”, which is whether an agent is capable of causing cancer, but does not measure the likelihood that cancer will occur.
Roundup, which is manufactured by multinational agriculture company Monsanto, is widely used for weed killing in residential areas around the city.
Following its publication of the IARC research earlier this year, Monsanto issued a response in which it stated that it disagreed with the IARC’s classification of the glyphosate as carcinogenic.
In it, their vice president of global regulatory affairs, Dr Phillip Miller, said:
As recently as January, the German government completed a rigorous, four-year evaluation of glyphosate for the European Union. They reviewed all the data IARC considered, plus significantly more, and concluded “glyphosate was unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk in humans.
On potential hazards associated with glyphosate, the company has stated, “Glyphosate-based herbicides are one of the most thoroughly tested in the world. Their history of safe use is supported by one of the most extensive worldwide human health, crop residue and environmental databases ever compiled on a pesticide product.”
The use of the herbicide was raised in Dublin City Council by Green Party councillor Ciarán Cuffe who has tabled a motion which will go forward later today for alternatives to the use of the chemical to be investigated.
In a statement, councillor Cuffe has said, “I am concerned that this weed killer is being used on residential streets.”
In recent days many streets around Stoneybatter and elsewhere in Dublin’s inner city have been sprayed with this weed-killer by contractors. We need to investigate alternatives to this weed-killer such as better street-cleaning to prevent weed growth, or weed removal by hand, rock salt or hot water.
In a statement yesterday evening, Dublin City Council said that they were in the process of carrying out an assessment on the different herbicides used around the city.
The findings of this will be reported to the council with a view to minimising their use. They went on to state that:
Ultimately the use of herbicides is governed by national regulation.
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Now I DEFINITELY won’t be licking the roads….
Stick to the footpaths
I said yestrrday on the bee thread, stop using roundup.
The guys on the atvs doing this all come down from the north, dcc not even using Irish companies.
Round up us bad for bees too. Monsanto makes it. Monsanto makes seeds that dont need bees. U could say a major market force affecting Monsanto natural competitors is bee availability.
Heres the truth on roundup, and backhanded clowns in our councils who dont question any of this stuff. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/09/monsanto-roundup-herbicide.aspx
Whatever about the wisdom of using Roundup in a populated area, reading articles from Mercola is definitely bad for your health.
Why do you have a picture of a person power washing a pavement, is he trying to wash all the round up off or what?
Alternative less click baity headline- “Popular weedkiller possible carcinogen”
Alternative MORE click baity headline “Is Dublin City Council trying to give you and your children cancer?”
Roundup Desert in a bottle. Tested on the Sahara Forest
Interesting using pesticide to kill weeds. Never heard of it, might try sprinkling some rat poison on the lawn, got some dandelions I wana wipe out.
Also storm in a teacup ppl, roundup is so watered down now from how strong it used to be. The real story here is the nicatinoids they put in it that may cause bee colony collapse. Nicatinoids ARE a pesticidas chemical in a HERBICIDE which I what you use to kill weeds. Why is it there? Monsanto are dodgy b**tards.
They’re a disgusting company. I’d love them to get sued for causing cancer or something.
Pesticide is the umbrella term for insecticides (that kill insects), fungicides (fungi) and herbicides (that kill weeds) etc.
“A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for: preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest. Though often misunderstood to refer only to insecticides,”
One litre of roundup contaminates 30 thousand litres of water, so strong enough still I’d imagine. (This nugget of useful info I got from an environmental officer with cork coco dealing with dumping)
So much for truth. Extract taken from the journal Nature.
“The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France (IARC) review notes that there is limited evidence for a link to cancer in humans. Although several studies have shown that people who work with the herbicide seem to be at increased risk of a cancer type called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the report notes that a separate huge US study, the Agricultural Health Study, found no link to non-Hodgkin lymphomas.”
The Journal never lets truth get in the way of a good headline.
There’s also this recent major review of the scientific literature on the health effects of Glyphosate (published in the Journal of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology):
“To examine potential cancer risks in humans, we reviewed the epidemiologic literature to evaluate whether exposure to glyphosate is associated causally with cancer risk in humans. We also reviewed relevant methodological and biomonitoring studies of glyphosate. Seven cohort studies and fourteen case-control studies examined the association between glyphosate and one or more cancer outcomes. Our review found no consistent pattern of positive associations indicating a causal relationship between total cancer (in adults or children) or any site-specific cancer and exposure to glyphosate.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230012000943
“Glyphosate is widely considered by regulatory authorities and scientific bodies to have no carcinogenic potential”
Any US study is highly unlikely to find against monsanto. Monsanto have huge influence in the government and interestingly the FDA.
Contrarian Brendan- iarc are funded by the WHO. U say iarc say no cancer on that old piece of research, WHO now say it causes cancer.
(WHO = World health organisation)
No they didn’t.
And corporations can’t buy skewed studies?
Yes they can, but they then have to go through the peer review process.
Either way, this was a review of the published literature, so unless you’re suggesting that Monsanto got to every scientist that ever looked at the health effects of Glyphosate and bought them off before they published their results (which would also involve them miraculously knowing who was doing research anywhere in the world, and knowing what they were about to publish), your point is a bit moot.
And you don’t think that’s possible?!
Good old Monsanto, putting people first as usual. From GM crops to cancer causing roundup, the fun never ends.
Roundup was banned in France recently.
Dublin city council workers are about to win the lotto by the sounds of this…
yes, it is a carcinogen, so are cigarette butts too though! Reduce the hype please!
And night-shift work.
Carlsberg don’t do pesticides but they’d PROBABLY…
You obviously never drank carlsberg.
When glyphosate first came on the market, salesmen drank it to show how safe it was.
Haha I remember seeing that clip. A major marketing nosedive!
Wonder where those salesmen are now??
One of these headbangers? “I’d be happy to actually, but not really” http://youtu.be/ovKw6YjqSfM
Youre simply a contrarian Brendan. theres tonnes of research to counter your quote there from iarc thats well behind the cutting edge of science.
GlGlyphisphates are now nearly everywhere, and monsanto are pure evil if you check their record around the world. The company satan himself spawned
How do you find this information when you don’t seem to know how to spell “glyphosate”?
Ronan, and neither do you, apparently.
Really? And how do you think I should spell it?
Ronan, apologies. Mis-read it completely. Senior moment. Although you could have spelled it Fnuurrgllr for a laugh. Sorry.
No problem. We have all had those moments! :-)
Oh, look, a spelling Nazi. That must make him right!
I have to point this fact out. Alternative media or as some say “tin foil hat” news sites have been reporting that there is a link between cancer and roundup for years now. Don’t take my word for it go and have a look for yourselves.
They have also been complaining about being sprayed by jet planes (chemtrails) etc etc!
The link to cancer is tenuous at best.
maybe you should do a bit of research into Monsanto, other than watching rte news or reading the indo. they said agent Orange wasn’t harmful to humans either,
Yeah, those conspiracy theorists are so dumb! I mean, everyone in their right mind knows that conspiracies don’t happen. In fact it’s a bit of a mystery why the word “conspiracy” even exists.And even if pigs flew and conspiracies to control, dominate and deceive the masses did actually happen, the least likely people to be involved would be senior executives of banks and corporations, people in the media or politicians. Everyone knows that these types of people have been chosen for their positions in society because of their exceptional capacity for empathy towards others, their honesty and high moral standards and their selfless commitment to the welfare of their fellow man. I mean, come on folks!
Fair enough Ciaran, but if you look at the posts here, the “evidence” provided by the conspiracy theory side has been shown to actually be advertisements for private business.
Seems that the real conspiracy is the propagation of the idea that there was a conspiracy to start with.
Just look around the city especially Dublin 8 it’s used by the lazy bas****s of DCC who spray it around trees and grass edges instead of using a strimmers,the trees are dying the grass is yellow and the children play around it.d8 is dying…….they’re so lazy the’ve taken the rubbish bins from the area so they they have more time to scratch their balls while they drink their tea!!!!!FACT!!!!!!
so “probably” is now the arbiter for fact/proof these days? ?
If it was terrorists spraying cancer causing chemicals there would be an uproar, particularly from the media!
3 times recently I’ve passed by someone spraying pesticide on the pavement. I don’t know what brand but it got in my mouth! It was so windy it went all over my face one day. They never seal off an area they’re working on or have any regard for the people they’re spraying in the process.
All the worry about getting cancer from weed killer while the majority smoke 20 a day
Really? The majority of us smoke 20 a day?
Do you reckon roundup might make people stupid? Have they been spraying in your area recently?
HUH ?
There are more implications than that. Many genetically modified crops are modified so that they can be sprayed with roundup. The idea being that all other weeds and vegetation will be killed. Leaving a pristine crop
And btw, the World Health Organisation don’t use the term “probably” lightly.
Monsanto is what we need to eradicate!
You’re a Canadian farmer that actively supports GM foods. You obviously spend your time scouring the internet defending Monsanto. You’re what we call a “Troll”.
Well Daniel, you clearly “trolled” my FB profile (that’s sort of nasty you know) and made some assumptions. ASSUME = makes as ASS of U and ME as they say…
Actually, I’m an Irish agricultural scientist, with a hobby farm in Canada at present who has never worked with GMO plants or Round-up in my life (other that killing weeds on my driveway…). I defend science, agriculture and factual-based data and evidence. And the whole Round-up scary stuff is total BS pushed by “Big Organic”.
Anyway, based on your trolling of my profile, you’re what “we” might call a “jerk”.
No i just clicked on your picture, not rocket science.. liked groups show up eg. GMOLOL’S please pal!
Too many tomatoes will give you cancer; too many cream cakes will give you cancer; in truth nearly any chemical compound in enough concentration will give you cancer…the evidence (and I’ve read it) suggests you’d probably need to bathe in neat Glyphosate for several days over several years to give yourself cancer. This is one of the safest and most bio-degradable herbicides that exists. I’d love to be in a world without the need…but these chemicals exist because there is a need….
Evidence can be lies created by bought and paid for scientists.
You have “read” the evidence ?
ROTFL…………..
Avina. Reed elsevier owns sciencedirect.com. ( do a whois).
Reed elsevier have withdrawn articles from their sites criticising monsanto before.
Theyre plenty nice to monsanto arent they?
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/journal-retracts-groundbreaking-gmo-study-monsanto-scientist-hired/
Have a click on the links in that article that are masquerading as references.
Every single one goes to an article on Mercola.com (and from there to various non-scientific websites).
To borrow a phrase used by people like you very often. How much is Mercola paying you to shill for him?
Hah! A red thumb for pointing out that an article on the “Free Thought Project” is basically just an extended advertisement for a dodgy supplements salesman.
Thats some nice “free thinking” whoever you are!
What gets me too is in good weather a lot of people who urinate, poo and spit on the street dries and what diseases could that cause like TB? Like dried dog poo, on a good day you end up breathing those particles in?
Roundup uses glyphosate as one of its ingredients but the real cancer causing effect of roundup has been reported to be the addition of other ingredients that seem to serve no practical use but are carcinogenic?
http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/environmental-policy/active-roundup-ingredient-probably-carcinogenic-zm0z15jjzmar.aspx
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/us-monsanto-roundup-cancer-idUSKBN0MG2NY20150320
So roundup can be more carcinogenic than ordinary glyphosate only based weed killers.
I have used Jeyes Fluid to kill off weeds down a lane way on behalf of a coco body that alcoholics use, the smell keeps them away, it kills moss and weeds and hides the smell of vomit and urine…
It is cheaper too…
have your say