Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/755637
Page 30 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com patent expired in 1991, Monsanto retained exclusive rights in the United States un l its patent on the isopropylamine salt expired in September 2000. As of 2009, sales of these herbicide products represented about 10% of Monsanto's revenue due to compe on from other producers of other glyphosate-based herbicides; their Roundup products (which include GM seeds) represented about half of Monsanto's gross margin. The ac ve ingredient of the Monsanto herbicides is the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate. Another important ingredient in some formula ons is the surfactant polyethoxylated tallow amine. Monsanto also produces seeds, which grow into plants gene cally engineered to be tolerant to glyphosate. The genes contained in these seeds are patented. Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post emergence herbicide against most broadleaf and cereal weeds. Soy was the first glyphosate-resistant crop. Toxicity Glyphosate is the ac ve ingredient in herbicide formula ons containing it. However, in addi on to glyphosate salts, commercial formula ons of glyphosate contain addi ves such as surfactants, which vary in nature and concentra on. The surfactants are added to enable the glyphosate to penetrate the cu cle of the plants. Toxicologists have studied glyphosate alone and formula ons. Glyphosate alone Humans Many regulatory and scholarly reviews have evaluated the rela ve toxicity of glyphosate as an herbicide. The German Federal Ins tute for Risk Assessment toxicology review in 2013 found that "the available data is contradictory and far from being convincing" with regard to correla ons between exposure to glyphosate formula ons and risk of various cancers, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Early epidemiological studies did not find associa ons between long-term, low-level exposure to glyphosate and any disease. A 2000 review concluded "under present and expected condi ons of new use, there is no poten al for Roundup herbicide to pose a health risk to humans". A 2002 review by the European Union reached the same conclusion. In 2013 the European commission reviewed a 2002 finding that had concluded equivocal evidence existed of a rela onship between glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and cardiovascular malforma ons and found that "there is no increased risk at the levels of exposure below those that caused maternal toxicity. A 2013 review found that neither glyphosate nor typical glyphosate-based formula ons pose a genotoxicity risk in humans under normal condi ons of human or environmental exposures. A 2014 review ar cle reported a significant associa on between B-cell lymphoma and glyphosate occupa onal exposure. In March 2015, the World Health Organiza on's Interna onal Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic in humans" (category 2A) based on epidemiological studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies. However, in 2016 a joint mee ng of the United Na ons (FAO) Panel of Experts on Pes cide Residues in Food and the Environment and the World Health Organiza on Core Assessment Group on Pes cide Residues concluded that based on the available evidence "glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet". Legal status Glyphosate was first approved for use in the 1970s, and as of 2010 was labelled for use in 130 countries. In September 2013, the legisla ve assembly of El Salvador approved legisla on to ban 53 agrochemicals, including glyphosate; the ban on glyphosate was set to begin in 2015. In April 2014, the legislature of the Netherlands passed legisla on prohibi ng sale of glyphosate to individuals for use at home; commercial sales were not affected. In May 2015, the president of Sri Lanka banned the use and import of glyphosate, effec ve immediately. In May 2015, Bermuda blocked importa on on all new orders of glyphosate-based herbicides for a temporary suspension awai ng outcomes of research.