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A Cape Breton environmental group is demanding that the provincial environment minister stop issuing forest spray permits for mainland Nova Scotia.
Neal Livingston, a woodlot owner in Inverness County and co-chairman of the Margaree Environmental Association, says Environment Minister Tim Halman’s continued aerial spray approvals for the mainland are inexplicable more than 30 years after similar spraying ended in Cape Breton.
“With more than 30 years of no-spray experience on over a million acres that Port Hawkesbury Paper operates on, the MEA (Margaree Environmental Association) demands that this year the minister stop this nonsense, adopt Cape Breton’s no-spray practices, and not issue spray permits for mainland Nova Scotia,” Livingston said.
The Margaree Association wrote a letter to Halman dated July 24 with its demand but Livingston said the group has not received a response from the minister or the department.
“The department has received four applications covering 1,447.56 hectares and the department is currently reviewing them,” Cindy Porter, communications adviser with the provincial Environment and Climate Change Department, said in an emailed response to questions from The Chronicle Herald.
“Health Canada approves what pesticides are safe for use,” Porter said. “If someone has concerns about the pesticides they approve for use across the country, they need to contact Health Canada. Our role is to make sure the companies that are spraying comply with strict terms and conditions when spraying.
Livingston and his group say that’s not good enough.
“The point we’ve been trying to make is, how can you live in two different worlds, where the largest and only pulp and paper company in Nova Scotia, controlling through leases huge forest territories, like a million acres, doesn’t spray and carries on successful commercial forestry,” Livingston said.
“Then you have these others, that we call the worst players in the industry, spraying. Why would the minister of environment issue permits for spraying when he clearly knows there are alternatives?
Related
💢 NOVA SCOTIA MINISTER REFUSES HELP FROM SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED FIREFIGHTERS😡🌲 2023
💢 Spraying Crown Land
💢 US jury orders Monsanto pay $290mn to terminally ill cancer patient in weed killer trial
💢 https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/article/its-a-dead-forest-northern-bush-pilot
💢 Bayer to Pay Up to $10.9 Billion to Settle Lawsuits Over Roundup Weedkiller
💢 Wild berry picking — not a good idea
💢 'It's a dead forest': northern bush pilot, First Nations decry herbicide spraying
💢 https://shore-215.blogspot.com/search?q=glyphosate
💢 https://shore-215.blogspot.com/2022/10/national-school-lunch-testing-for.html
💢 https://shore-215.blogspot.com/2022/07/80-of-people-piss-toxic-weed-killer.html
💢 Glyphosate herbicide harms even GM glyphosate-tolerant soybeans
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| New testing conducted by an independent lab found glyphosate, the active
ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, in common children’s lunch foods and
snacks sold in Canada.The testing, commissioned by the Coalition for Action on Toxics,
revealed that some products from Canada’s favourite foods such as
Cheerios, Tim Hortons Timbits and bagels, Catelli multigrain spaghetti
and Fontaine Santé hummus all contain glyphosate. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Cancer Research Agency classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen.” “It is disconcerting that this harmful pesticide is consistently showing up in food products that most children eat daily. Exposure adds up,” says Muhannad Malas with Environmental Defence. “Growing scientific evidence and international regulatory action show that Canadians should be concerned.” Glyphosate BoxChickpea and wheat-based products were among the highest contaminated because these crops are often sprayed with glyphosate just weeks before they are harvested. Canadian growers are concerned about current levels of contamination because of impacts on exports due to higher standards in other countries. In a much larger study conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, glyphosate was found in more than 30 per cent of food products tested, and in some cases was above Health Canada’s “safe” limits of contamination. Two recent testing reports from the U.S., one conducted by Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project and one by EWG, have also discovered many popular U.S. brands are contaminated with glyphosate. An American court recently ruled that glyphosate contributed to an American citizen’s cancer, and that Monsanto knowingly downplayed the risks using fraudulent science and backdoor negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Health Canada worked in close collaboration with the U.S. EPA in its evaluation of glyphosate, concluding in 2017 to continue to allow the use of glyphosate for another 15 years. In August 2017, Équiterre, Environmental Defence and its partners filed a Notice of Objection to the re-evaluation of glyphosate, raising concerns that the evaluation either failed to consider or even dismissed important scientific evidence on risks to public health and ecosystems. “Canadian families need to be assured that government regulations are adequately protecting them,” says Karen Ross with Équiterre “But how can we be confident when we know that Canada’s closest ally in its evaluation of glyphosate used fraudulent science and negotiated with Monsanto to downplay risks?” The coalition is demanding the government to reform and strengthen Canada’s cornerstone laws governing the regulation of toxics: the Pest Control Products Act and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). For the full report, including the food testing results, please visit: whatsinyourlunch.ca |
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| The Food and Drug Administration, under public pressure to start
testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of a pesticide that has
been linked to cancer, has found residues of the weed killer called
glyphosate in samples of U.S. honey, including some samples that showed
residue levels double the legally allowed limit in the European Union, according to documents obtained by the consumer advocacy group U.S. Right to Know through a Freedom of Information Act request. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States, so any amount of detectable glyphosate in honey could technically be considered illegal. Some of the honey tested by FDA had glyphosate residues at 107 parts per billion, well over the 50 parts per billion set as a maximum allowed in the European Union, the documents state. Records obtained from the FDA, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture by U.S. Right to Know detail a range of revelations about the federal government’s efforts to get a handle on rising concerns about glyphosate. In addition to honey, the records show government residue experts discussing the prevalence of glyphosate found in soybean samples, and the belief that there could be a lot of “violation for glyphosate” residue levels in U.S. crops. A report about the USRTK findings is available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html. Glyphosate, which is the key ingredient in Monsanto Co.’s Roundup herbicide, is the most widely used herbicide in the world, and concerns about glyphosate residues in food increased after the World Health Organization in 2015 said its cancer experts determined glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. Other international scientists have raised concerns about how heavy use of glyphosate is impacting human health and the environment. Even though the FDA annually examines foods for residues of many pesticides, it has declined to test for glyphosate residues for decades. It was only in February of this year that the agency said it would start some limited testing for glyphosate residues. That came after many independent researchers started conducting their own testing on various foods two years ago, finding glyphosate in an array of products, including flour, cereal, and oatmeal. |
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| Citing a recent report
by the Environmental Working Group finding traces of the ‘known
carcinogen’ glyphosate in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other oat-based
breakfast foods, plaintiffs Tamara Frankel and Natasha Paracha said
Friday that Bob’s Red Mill knew its oat products contain or likely
contain the chemical, but didn’t disclose it on the label. Instead, they say, the Oregon-based company labeled the products with phrases such as “gluten free,” “wheat free” and “purity tested,” leading consumers to believe them to be healthy. “Consumers have a reasonable expectation that material product information, such as the presence of a probable carcinogen like glyphosate, will be provided by a product manufacturer, especially when the manufacturer affirmatively identifies the health-related attributes of its products such as “Gluten Free”, “Whole Grain”, and “Friend of the Heart,” the complaint states, adding that the labeling amounts to “misleading half-truths.” Frankel and Paracha say Bob’s Red Mill had a duty to disclose the presence of glyphosate in its oats and that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen, because consumers don’t have easy access to the information. They want a court order blocking the company from continuing to advertise the products as healthy. They seek to certify classes of consumers in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Washington. In the alternative, they seek to certify a California-only class. Patricia Syverson with Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint in San Diego represents Frankel and Paracha. In late August, it was also announced that General Mills is facing a potentially damaging class action lawsuit after a Florida woman accused it of engaging in deceptive business practices, by not alerting the public that their Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios cereals contain glyphosate. A 2016 testing project on glyphosate residues in popular American foods by Sustainable Pulse’s partner The Detox Project and Food Democracy Now! is one of the main pieces of evidence being used in the case, according to the court documents, after it found levels of glyphosate in both Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios as well as many other products. This wave of class actions against food companies has caused many food brands to start seeking The Detox Project’s Glyphosate Free certification, according to their Director, Henry Rowlands; “The Detox Project has received a massive rise in enquiries from food brands regarding Glyphosate Residue Free certification, ranging from baby food to honey to supplement brands. So far we have 15 brands from around the world fully certified but over 50 brands have been in touch during the last week.” The lawsuits against food brands also follow the landmark cancer trial verdict in San Francisco very closely, in which Monsanto was ordered by a jury to pay over USD $289 Million in total damages to the former school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, a California father who has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which was caused by Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup. Source Related https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=ovKw6YjqSfM https://sustainablepulse.com/2018/08/22/general-mills-face https://sustainablepulse.com/2018/09/01/lawyers-in-monsanto |
The study, conducted by the team of University of Northern BC scientists, N. Botten, L.J. Wood, and J.R. Werner, concludes that wild berry picking could be detrimental to the health of not just humans but animals who consume these berries especially those sprayed with the weed-killer glyphosate.
According to the study, once sprayed, glyphosate persists in plant tissues for a minimum of one year after treatment, and in some cases still remains in trace amounts after twelve or more years.
The study also determined that while the quantities of glyphosate contained in plant tissues after three to twelve years are extremely low and the lower levels should not be considered an immediate hazard, however, “the cumulative effects of long-term residual glyphosate should be considered when assessing exposure of humans and wildlife to chronic, low-concentrations of glyphosate and other chemicals in the environment”.
A similar study was conducted in 2019 and published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research by Lisa J. Wood.
Despite the studies, Glyphosate continues to be approved by Health Canada for use in forestry across the country, with strict conditions including buffer zones for fish-bearing streams.
Several forestry companies helicopter-spray and manually brush over 10,000 hectares of forests in the province with glyphosate since the 1980’s to kill birch, aspen trees and as a post-harvest, silvicultural treatment.
Last year, around 50 people gathered outside the Ministry of Forests District office in Prince George to protest spraying herbicides on B.C. forests by Canfor. The rally was organized in light of Canfor’s impending renewal of pest management plan that designates high-biodiversity, fire-resistant native tree species including birch, cottonwood and aspen as pests and would mean spraying those trees with the herbicide.
The company Bayer that makes the weed and grass killed Roundup containing glyphosate, has been subject to a number of lawsuits all over Canada and the U.S after the International Agency for Research on Cancer scientists classified glyphosate as a probably carcinogenic substance to humans in 2015. Last year, Bayer even agreed to over US $10 billion to resolve lawsuits in U.S. This however, won’t apply to Canadian lawsuits.
The conclusions of the latest study once again point to the urgent attention that needs to be given to the use and indirect consumption of glyphosates. Source
by Mike Barrett“…In summary, we found that glyphosate exhibited a weaker estrogenic activity than estradiol. Furthermore, this study demonstrated the additive estrogenic effects of glyphosate and genistein which implied that the use of glyphosate-contaminated soybean products as dietary supplements may pose a risk of breast cancer because of their potential additive estrogenicity.”
“This finding should raise concern about the existence of more than one xenoestrogen such as phytoestrogen and contaminants in plant derived food which may be beneficial or harmful depending on the hormonal and pathological status of consumers. This study implied that the additive effect of glyphosate and genistein in postmenopausal woman may induce cancer cell growth.”But of course this is far from the only nasty effect Roundup has on the human body. Scientists have found in some research that Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Roundup causes toxicity to human cells, and actually kills human kidney cells at low doses.
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| KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – The province has issued permits for the
spraying of glyphosate on some 938 hectares (2300 acres) in rural Nova
Scotia. Affected woodlots are in Hants, Cumberland, Guysborough, Inverness and Colchester Counties. The individual permits and a summary document are posted on the Department of Environment website. Both ground and aerial applications are included in the approvals.
See also: News brief: CN announces start of herbicide spraying on its right of ways, but keeps mum on details
During previous years similar glyphosate applications were
controversial, with many residents of rural Nova Scotia worried about
unwanted effects on their own health and the forests’ ecosystem.These concerns were shrugged off by the department, and forestry companies which use the herbicide to facilitate clearcutting. Scientists are divided on whether the herbicide is safe and many of its long term effects on woodlands, soils and animals remain unknown. Glyphosate was found to be “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015. Defenders of glyphosate have focused on the supposedly negligible risks of the herbicide to humans. Nonetheless, mandatory signs in the areas to be sprayed are warning people not to eat berries. Do birds know to read these signs? And did we tell the earthworms to vacate the premises prior to spraying? A report by the British Soil Association suggests that in terms of glyphosate’s impact on soil ecosystems we know very little. |
Scientists have found
that spraying with glyphosate-based herbicide triggers unintended
effects even in genetically modified soybean varieties resistant to this
type of pesticide. They report their findings in a new study published
in Environmental Sciences Europe.
The researchers, from
GenØk–Centre for Biosafety in Norway and the Federal University of Santa
Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil, found severe metabolic disturbances in both
stacked (multiple transgene) and single transgene trait GM soybeans
caused by exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide.
