DOW And Monsanto in deadly race on the pesticide treadmill

This insanity needs to be fought with all available resources.
Just think of the harm these two corporations have caused since their inception. How many have they killed for this control and greed ? How many more will die from poison for their profits ?
We are committing suicide by allowing these corporations to thrive!

both monsatan and dow need to go to hell!

Perhaps we should encourage them and maybe they'll exterminate one another.

Conventional farmed acres usually have a mineral imbalance.The cardinal rule is 65% calcium in the soil,and a 2:1 calcium magnesium ratio in soil tests.This usually ends weed infestations.Eco principles tame weed infestations into manageable populations of weeds.Farmers can manage these weeds with mechanical means;using weeders after planting,rotary hoes,and row cultivation before crop canopies shade the soil,and inhibit weeds.No-till can also be used with a aftermath strategy of planting in a winter rye mulch,rolled before planting.Crops can be grown without herbicides ,it's better for our health and the health of the soil,water ways.

2, 4-D resistant superweeds will be some real trouble, not that glyphosate resistant weeds aren't already a problem. But more problems means more profits. Engineering capital solutions through catastrophe at an inflating price.
Now that they have invested in educational and research bodies it will be taught as the correct approach to pressure agricultural businesses with. Once it becomes just too expensive for any family to stay in farming, then any big agricultural businesses will all fall in line, besides they won't have any other choice with all the pollen in the air.

You want to know how dangerous 2, 4-D is? Just try a teaspoonful, that should be enough to knock you dead pretty darn quickly. Oh I wonder why so many people are falling ill to cancer and other illnesses without any previous family history. Could it be the food chain is already well and truly contaminated? Looked at the rates of chemicals turning up in infants who have unfortunately died over recent years? Noticed how the hardest working people earn the least amount of money, while the cheating lying bastards earn the most?

Not only have humans developed the means to mentally retard themselves, they have recently acquired the means to genetically de-evolve themselves and their surrounding environment. Well done humanity, greed has worked exceptionally well at hastening your demise. Now that is something we can all be proud of contributing to through our ignorance, arrogance and lack of will to act in our own interests. Hey, but don't listen to me, listen to some smug git who sold you Agent Orange.

Fortunately, whether it's do to economy or actual environmentalism... People are getting more & more into growing their own, more farmers markets keep opening up, and even some farmers who own large portions of commercial farmland are still able to get non-GE seeds and exclusively grow them...

Short of a serious disability, most people can in some capacity at least supplement the foods they eat by growing themselves (& still work a full time job). It really doesn't take the most study, experience, financial investment... People already doing it are generally more than willing to help however they can, and if they aren't your next door neighbor you can meet them at the local farmers market when they open back up....

If the American people decided to they could virtually run Monsanto out of business. And they could damn sure let DOW know they don't have a place messing with our food. It would take actually getting involved though.

Thanks JanforGore...there don't seem to be enough people interested in the envrionment to make a difference...maybe when they can't afford the food, or can't find potable water, or have to wear respirators or we have an epidemic of diseases and still births and birth defects...2,4-D was the chemical compound that was somehow mysteriouly contaminated during the Vietnam War and is still wreaking havoc with Viet Vets and Vietnamese people today...nice stuff...we should boycott everything they contiminate...READ THE LABELS...GET EDUCATED!!!!!

Let Monsanto and DOW DIE - stop buying their stuff already !

I was not aware that they were still using 2,4-D. I used to see them spraying it in the late 1950's and early 60's on the farm across the road from the one where I grew up. I remember that acrid odor characteristic to chlorinated hydrocarbons. The farmer doing the spraying used a respirator, neoprene hood, and gloves. They stopped using it after a couple of years and I thought it had been banned. Agent Orange had exactly the same odor.

http://www.agentorangecanada.com/killme.php

What is 2,4-D?

2,4-D is a moderately persistent chemical with a half- life between 20 and 200 days.Unfortunately, the herbicide does not affect target weeds alone. It can cause low growth rates, reproductive problems, changes in appearance or behaviour, or death in non-target species.

2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is one of the most common and most toxic herbicides used on US and Canadianlawns and gardens. 2,4-D has a notorious past. It was one of the two chemicals in the defoliants Agent Orange and Agent Purple. It was also one of the two chemicals in Agent White.

These carcinogenic herbicides were heavily used during the Vietnam War and now the Vietnamese population and Vietnam war veterans are haunted by the horrific effects of these herbicides, including miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer.

Presently, 2,4-D is one of the top five herbicides used most frequently by professional lawn care applicators. Lawn care companies used to put a skull and crossbones sign on your lawn after they sprayed, now they put a figure of a human with a slash through it, meaning that you should not walk on any sprayed area.

You only have to watch the applicators who work for the lawn care companies to notice that they wear rubber gloves, rubber boots and a mask.

If this chemical is so harmless as supporters of the use of this chemical claim, then why the protection? Why the signage?

2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic is being banned by municipalites, provinces and countries worldwide. In turn, the lawn care industry is fighting back with misleading information and science that is questionable as to the safety of this herbicide.

The following organizations support the banning of 2,4-D

Agent Orange Association of Canada
Canadian Cancer Society
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Public Health Association
Ontario College of Family Physicians - For their study on pesticides/herbicides (click here)
Ontario Public Health Association
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Humane Society of Canada
Ottawa Humane Society

Despite industry efforts claiming the safety of this chemical, there is a large body of evidence indicating major health effects from cancer to immunosuppression, reproductive damage to neurotoxicity. The teratogenic, neurotoxic, immunosuppressive, cytotoxic and hepatoxic effects of 2,4-D have
been well documented.

The report by the Ontario College of Physicians linked 2,4-D exposure during pregnancy and childhood to a two-fold increase in the incidence of leukemia
and in their study they also found links to sterility, respiratory problems, atrophy and non-hodgkins lymphoma.

Sweden, Norway and Denmark have de-registered the use of 2,4-D. The Province of Quebec enacted legislation banning the sale and use of toxic lawn and garden chemicals, such as 2,4-D in 2006. More than 70 Canadian municipalities, includingToronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax have pesticide/herbicide bylaws. The list is growing monthly

Pesticide companies say that the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada has approved 2,4-D, and it is safe when used as directed.

But 2,4-D manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year pressuring governments worldwide to re-register 2,4-D based on safety studies which they fund. W5, an investigative news program, exposed another pesticide industry strategy by reporting that PMRA receives 25% of its funding from pesticide manufacturers.

When a government agency responsible for reviewing and certifying a product receives funding from the manufacturers of that product, all transparency and accountability is corrupted.