Updated: see end of post. So here's a thing of beauty: Chemical industrylobbyistapologist Patrick Moore wants to assure the world there is absolutely no truth to the pernicious assertions that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, is harmful to humans. In an interview for a documentary on French television station Canal +, Moore denies that glyphosate has led to increased cancer rates in Argentina, because such a thing is simply UNPOSSIBLE. How safe is the stuff? Just watch! (Don't be askeered by the French subtitles; the interview is in English.)
A shot of vinegar isn't going to kill me. All he had to do was drink something he says is safe to prove his point. He didn't, therefore funny. Is that clear enough or do I speak a different English?
Dude, if a reporter tried to get me to drink a glass of herbicide, I'd call him a jerk too. The way this debate is framed is such that it's completely meaningless.
Again: there are many, many substances that are *safe* for humans that you shouldn't drink. For example, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, or mouthwash. Plenty of chemicals that you probably have in your household right now that would be poisonous or harmful if you were to drink a glass of them but aren't harmful if you just use them to clean, like ammonia, bleach or hydrogen peroxide. (Well, I'm assuming that it would be harmful if you drank them, I'm not sure but I wouldn't do it.)
You can't determine if something is "harmful" or "toxic" to humans without taking into account how they are exposed to it, in what limits and for what long. Even if Roundup wouldn't poison you immediately if you drank a glass of it, that doesn't tell us if long-term exposure to it in other ways causes cancer, which was the issue they were supposed to be discussing.
I have no idea if glyphosate really is a carcinogen or, if it is, if you'd have any increased risk of cancer from eating crops that had had Roundup sprayed near them or if the increased risk is only for someone who works in the fields. I don't know how much glyphosate is supposed to increase the risk of cancer. I don't know what alternatives there are to using Roundup for weed control. I'd love to find out these things out, but apparently I'll have to go elsewhere to find out. I do know *one thing* about herbicides, though, and that's that you're not supposed to drink them by the glassful. You're supposed to spray them on weeds.
Edit: Oh, hey, I found the information I wanted on Forbes, of all places:
Literally none of that is true. Not even the part about bee deaths. Not only has the US bee population increased every year since 2011[1], but Bt crops have been shown to have no influence whatsoever on bee populations[2]; if anything, they may have proven beneficial insofar as their adoption has displaced pesticides which are significantly more dangerous to bees[3]. The varroa mite, as well as pathogens such as Nosema apis[4], are far more easily implicated in bee deaths.
This is not to say that Patrick Moore is anything less than a giant bucket of dicks, mind you, because he certainly is that[5]. Just not for this one specific reason.
Remember those commercials featuring a woman so impressed with her laxative she decided to go on the road in a laxative ad wrapped RV to spread the word about how really great said laxative is? Patrick Moore is just like that lady.
Patrick Moore ought to be strapped to a table and waterboarded with a mixture of glyphosphate and votes.
Au contraire! 'Tis red meat!
A shot of vinegar isn't going to kill me. All he had to do was drink something he says is safe to prove his point. He didn't, therefore funny. Is that clear enough or do I speak a different English?
Because their families didn't sue?
Or golden showers?
At least BT drank the stuff. Crazy as he was.
Applause!!! I have no fear for human health from the direct use of GMOs, but all they really seem to be used for is to increase Roundup©™ tolerance. Also if people could afford a diet that was more than just rice, rice and more rice Golden Rice™© wouldn't be needed too prevent vitamin A deficiency.
Dude, if a reporter tried to get me to drink a glass of herbicide, I'd call him a jerk too. The way this debate is framed is such that it's completely meaningless.
Again: there are many, many substances that are *safe* for humans that you shouldn't drink. For example, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, or mouthwash. Plenty of chemicals that you probably have in your household right now that would be poisonous or harmful if you were to drink a glass of them but aren't harmful if you just use them to clean, like ammonia, bleach or hydrogen peroxide. (Well, I'm assuming that it would be harmful if you drank them, I'm not sure but I wouldn't do it.)
You can't determine if something is "harmful" or "toxic" to humans without taking into account how they are exposed to it, in what limits and for what long. Even if Roundup wouldn't poison you immediately if you drank a glass of it, that doesn't tell us if long-term exposure to it in other ways causes cancer, which was the issue they were supposed to be discussing.
I have no idea if glyphosate really is a carcinogen or, if it is, if you'd have any increased risk of cancer from eating crops that had had Roundup sprayed near them or if the increased risk is only for someone who works in the fields. I don't know how much glyphosate is supposed to increase the risk of cancer. I don't know what alternatives there are to using Roundup for weed control. I'd love to find out these things out, but apparently I'll have to go elsewhere to find out. I do know *one thing* about herbicides, though, and that's that you're not supposed to drink them by the glassful. You're supposed to spray them on weeds.
Edit: Oh, hey, I found the information I wanted on Forbes, of all places:
http://www.forbes.com/sites...
Reading case reports about ingestion of glyphosate.
I thought that Pierre was run over by a carriage :http://parisisinvisible.blo...
Not only that but I understand for at least the early astronauts, oxygen poisoning from improper air circulation was a real concern.
Literally none of that is true. Not even the part about bee deaths. Not only has the US bee population increased every year since 2011[1], but Bt crops have been shown to have no influence whatsoever on bee populations[2]; if anything, they may have proven beneficial insofar as their adoption has displaced pesticides which are significantly more dangerous to bees[3]. The varroa mite, as well as pathogens such as Nosema apis[4], are far more easily implicated in bee deaths.
This is not to say that Patrick Moore is anything less than a giant bucket of dicks, mind you, because he certainly is that[5]. Just not for this one specific reason.
[1]http://usda.mannlib.cornell...[2]http://journals.plos.org/pl...[3]http://journals.plos.org/pl...[4]http://www.ars.usda.gov/New...[5]http://www.epw.senate.gov/p...
Remember those commercials featuring a woman so impressed with her laxative she decided to go on the road in a laxative ad wrapped RV to spread the word about how really great said laxative is? Patrick Moore is just like that lady.
Ça c'est un alt-text magnifique! Bien fait!
Paidmonsantoshillsayswhat?
Just like all those poor people getting rich on Welfare...
But I wouldn't want to live like that.
http://media3.giphy.com/med...