by Jonathan Latham, PhD
University of California President Janet Napolitano has halted the use of glyphosate on all ten of its campuses, which serve over 200,000 students.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the Monsanto weed killer products Roundup and Ranger, as well as over 700 other commercial herbicides.
Glyphosate herbicides and the manufacturer Monsanto were just implicated in a third lawsuit, where the plaintiffs were awarded over $2 billion dollars.
The universities’ decision cites “concerns about possible human health and ecological hazards, as well potential legal and reputational risks associated with this category of herbicides.” The suspension follows a campaign to end the use of herbicides across the University of California campuses by Herbicide-Free UC. This initiative started out as an Herbicide-Free Cal campaign that was founded by two UC Berkeley student-athletes in 2017, Mackenzie Feldman and Bridget Gustafson, after they were made aware of herbicides being used around their volleyball court.
At the UC Berkeley campus, the Herbicide-Free UC students worked with the Grounds Operations Manager to pilot herbicide-free practices on two large campus spaces and nine smaller spaces during the 2018-2019 school year. After graduating, co-founder Mackenzie Feldman expanded the campaign UC-wide.
“It would be irresponsible for the University of California to not take action at this point, especially after three separate juries in the state of California have decided that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides cause cancer,” said Feldman. She met with a UC Regent, who became interested in the issue. ”Being at the first trial, Johnson v. Monsanto, and hearing Lee Johnson’s story made me realize that I needed to expand this campaign beyond Berkeley. This work is too important not to do. If I can prevent even one groundskeeper from getting cancer and going through what Lee is going to, then I must.”
Herbicide-Free UC released the following statement:
“We are thrilled that the UC President and Regents have made the decision to ban glyphosate, but feel that there is no need to wait for more research to make the ban permanent. The science is clear: a number of the chemicals utilized by the University of California or its subcontractors pose a serious health risk to students, faculty, and staff. The University of California’s own faculty were even involved in designating many of these chemicals as dangerous. We are asking for a permanent glyphosate ban, as well as a ban on all Proposition 65 pesticides and other herbicides that cause harm to human health and the environment.”
Said Herbicide-Free UC: “There are many alternatives to harmful pesticide and herbicide use. There are, of course, some costs associated with adopting organic practices. Yet, when faced with the alternatives of legal liability, and the human cost of harming members of the UC community with these practices, we think the costs of maintaining our current policies far outweigh the costs of switching to organic land management practices. We will keep working with the University of California to transition each campus to all-organic land management practices.”
The decision is effective June 1st.
If this article was useful to you please consider sharing it with your networks.
Bev Jo
Thank you so much! This is incredibly inspirational. Mackensie and Bridget had come to one of our meetings of our Coalition to Defend East Bay Forests (from the clear-cutting and poisoning still going on in our parks.) They were so nice, but I couldn’t imagine how much effect they could have when graduating soon, but they did it!!!
They are literally saving lives by stopping this horrific poisoning.
Next, the ban should include future poisons and all poisons since none are safe.
Another worry is the new dishonest propaganda campaign by PG&E, the East Bay Regional Park District, and EBMUD to terrorize people with the threat of fire into making “defensible space” of 100 feet around their homes. Few properties are that big and the result will be few trees left if people obey this scare tactic. Countless trees are already being cut down on public lands. And then to maintain the resulting wasteland, they of course will be spraying poison.
The horrific irony is that fire science shows that fewer trees means greater the fire risk because of increased heat, no shade, no more fog drip (which can be over a foot annually from the tallest trees) and countless animals killed. https://milliontrees.me/2016/03/25/the-next-major-fire-in-the-east-bay-hills/
Not to mention the landslides that are already happening where people have cut their trees down. And the beauty of the East Bay hills gone forever.
Help spread the word, and again, thank you, Mackensie and Bridget and Herbicide-free UC for all your work!
I hope Mr. Dewayne Johnson, who won the suit against Monsanto because of getting non-Hodkin’s lymphoma, will feel proud of how many lives he is helping to save.
From Judy Hoy:
Thank you for letting me know about the University of California System
no longer using Glyphosate/Roundup on its campuses.
If Neonicotinoids are used, they should be banned immediately also. A
new study published in March in Nature shows that the Neonicotinoid,
Imidacloprid, is deadly to large mammals, white-tailed deer.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40994-9 SD Imidacloprid-WTD Study
These are links to articles from the U.S. and other countries concerning the
SD Imidacloprid-WTD Study.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/neonicotinoid-exposure-could-be-harming-mammals/3010409.article
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-pesticide-turns-up-in-more-places-safety-concerns-mount/
https://hygeia-analytics.com/2019/05/10/new-piece-by-scientific-american-describes-growing-evidence-that-neonics-are-spreading-beyond-farm-fields/?fbclid=IwAR3bGWPcaJSgDso1Yp-pmLYCOEnS_r2xysvJnHEmNZeNiFMtgSbS_7oLdog
https://www.boreal.org/2019/03/20/190922/is-an-insecticide-that-harms-bees-bad-for-deer-
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/03/19/is-an-insecticide-that-harms-bees-bad-for-deer
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2019/03/study-finds-that-commonly-occurring-levels-of-neonicotinoid-insecticide-harm-white-tailed-deer/
This one by Michael Howell in the Bitterroot Star, our local weekly
paper, was very good. There should be an article about this study in
the Ravalli Republic soon.
https://bitterrootstar.com/2019/04/effects-of-neonicotinoid-insecticides-on-deer-studied/
This is the link to a recently published very concerning study of
Glyphosate’s transgenerational effects on the study animal, rats. If
the same is happening to exposed humans of several generations, that
would explain the significant increase in the health issues, many of
which we addressed in our 2015 study. We found a close correlation with
the increase in the use of glyphosate and the significant increase in
birth defects and other health issues shown to be increasing in newborn
children according to CDC records and observed to be increasing on many
vertebrate species. Interestingly, exposure to GBHs was associated with
androgen-like effects, including a statistically significant increase
of anogenital distance (AGD) in males and females, delay of first
estrous and increased testosterone in females of the study rodents.
Since the use of glyphosate began in 1974, we are now in the 3rd to the
5th generation of exposed children being born, depending on the age of
the parents of the children born now and how many generations they are
from the first exposed newborns after 1974. With regard to wild
ruminants like WTD, mule deer, antelope and others, many generations
have been born since 1974. With humans and wildlife both, each new
generation has been exposed to more and more glyphosate, thus ensuring
that the transgenerational adverse health effects are also passed on to
new generations, which also pass them on.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42860-0 Glyphosate Study
This is the link to a study that came out this week on effects of
glyphosate and possible connection to the alarming increase in autism.
https://www.academia.edu/38887545/Glyphosate_mycotoxins_and_antibiotics_in_the_food_chain_effects_on_the_gastrointestinal_apparatus_and_immune_system
Here are some more links for articles that might be of interest to you.
Imidacloprid was even found to kill spiders, fish, aquatic insects,
birds, land insects that birds need for food and feeding their young,
amphibians and the insects they need for food and insects that
pollinate our food and food for wildlife. There isn?t a whole lot of
animals left for the pesticides to kill and maim. Smaller mammals are
definitely affected. For example, rodents, raccoons, and other mammals
have the same male reproductive malformations as the deer and other
ruminants and often eat insects. Canines, including pet dogs have both
reproductive malformations and underdeveloped jaw bones. Rodents don’t
seem to get underbite or overbite, but they do get cleft lip and cleft
palate, similar to human newborns.
https://hygeia-analytics.com/2019/03/12/new-study-rats-exposed-to-glyphosate-at-doses-epa-considers-safe-develop-multiple-signs-of-reproductive-toxicity/
This link shows the use of Imidacloprid in the U.S. for the years its
use was tracked.
https://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pnsp/usage/maps/show_map.php?year=2011&map=IMIDACLOPRID&hilo=L&disp=Imidacloprid
These are studies of Imidacloprid and species other than white-tailed deer.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4284370/ An important
review of effects on multiple wildlife species including fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35129-5. Effects on mice
brains and behavior.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15446-x. Effects on
migratory ability in songbirds
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-42258-y. Effects on insects.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30952926 Spider neonicotinoid study.
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=13134 A
general article about the effects of neonicotinoids, including
Imidacloprid.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/web/2014/03/Low-Doses-Controversial-Insecticide-Harm.html. An article about a study concerning effects of Imidacloprid on insects at extremely low
doses.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190410090336.htm. An
article about another study of neonicotinoid insecticides impairing
insects ability to avoid predators.This is the DOI of the study the
article is about. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2019.02.012
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190320120603.htm. This is
a study concerning the extreme decline in butterflies in agricultural
areas as compared with natural areas in Germany.
All the best,
Judy
Judy Hoy
I am posting the link to my website because it has a great deal of information on what the pesticides do to developing young animals (including human babies) and photos of birth defects on various species. The website was originally to promote my two books on wildlife, one of which is about the birth defects, but it quickly morphed into a save the baby animal website. I don’t get any money from the sale of my books. All profit from the Amazon sales goes into a fund to pay for the food and medicine for injured and orphaned wildlife in the care of rehabbers here in Western Montana. If anyone buys a book, they are at the same time donating to the wildlife rehabilitation fund, so thank you to anyone who does. The website is (www.judyhoy.com).
Awesome – Is there any way to share this on Facebook? I’d like to do that!
I know that UC Berkeley is still using Roundup. Please if you care go to their water management offices to see what they have. I have seen it in use. What can I do about this?
Dr Latham; I work diligently to stop the use of Glyphosate in the city of Visalia, County seat of Tulare County center to the the Central Valley of California. We are the center to the nation’s breabasket. Our children risk exposure to Roundup in our cities. Visalia Unified School District has removed Roundup. As a member of the Visalia City Environmental Committee I have persistently presented requests our city ban Roundup, but to no avail. You have done a remarkable act to protect college age students. I am working to protect the other vulnerable children of younger ages that play soccer, baseball and football on city parks and athletic turfs. Please tell me what evidence you used to persuade UC campuses to remove Roundup.
Glyphosate should be banned until its effects on micro biomes(?) is determined. It may well be responsible for environmental devastation far greater than most are aware. Any connection to bee colony death? Monarch butterflies? Frogs? Autism? Parkinsons? Alzheimer’s? If correlation exists between glyphosate use increase and the increase of these and others, why are there not more UC studies being conducted?