5 ms·

I came here to write a very similar thing. While activists exaggerate to persuade people it's not safe because it might be carcinogenic, the author is on the o

by dotdi 9y ago

I came here to write a very similar thing. While activists exaggerate to persuade people it's not safe because it might be carcinogenic, the author is on the other extreme: it's safe until proven otherwise. It also sports a fair share of whataboutism: "what about bacon, that's also considered carcinogenic!?".

zaarn 9y ago
I recall my chemist teacher repeating the age old phrase "the dosage makes the poison" so often that I'm basically immune to anyone crying "X is poison". It's all about "how much?" and "over which time period?" and "where did you put it into your body?" to determine if something will kill you or cause cancer.
- orwin 9y ago
  True. Glyphosate opponent target the fact that everybody ingest glyphosate (and that's supposed to be bad). But the dose we ingest (at least in western europe) is too small to be really dangerous, and i think this arguent is a bad one. However, i am concerned about farmer and gardener using the product, as well as kids living near them. Most natural pesticide and herbicide show bad affect on young people brain developpement. I would be really surprised if a chemical, more potent one was harmless.
  - zaarn 9y ago
    It really depends, mostly on whether or not Glyphosate can cross the Blood-Brain barrier and how easily it does. If it barely or not at all goes through then there should be less of an impact.
- dozzie 9y ago
  > I recall my chemist teacher repeating the age old phrase "the dosage makes the poison" [...] Indeed it's the dosage and not the substance, even if it will sound stupid when somebody on your funeral says that you were crushed by a ton of cherries.
  - zaarn 9y ago
    I think I'll put it on my last will that if I was to be crushed by a truckload of cherries, the phrase "the dosage makes the poison" must be mentioned during my funeral.
- redblacktree 9y ago
  I haven't yet had time to properly investigate, but I have heard that wheat crops are sprayed liberally with glyphosate directly before harvest as a desiccant to make harvesting easier. (perhaps also increasing yield, I don't know) So the dose may be quite a bit higher than you'd generally expect. Also note that glyphosate is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA, which means that it can be used in any quantity. With that designation, arguments about dosage carry less weight for me. If a regulatory agency were concerned with dosages in final food products, I'd feel a lot more comfortable.
  - zaarn 9y ago
    I live in Europe so things are different. As such the maximum dosage that is allowed in food is 0.1mg per kg of body weight and per day. Thusly my argument on dosages in final food products hold and I feel fairly comfortable. I suggest either petitioning the FDA to introduce food safety standards or moving to another country with food safety standards.
    - redblacktree 9y ago
      Moving is a rather drastic step. Instead, I buy USDA Organic wheat, which doesn't allow the use of glyphosate.

by dotdi 9y ago

zaarn 9y ago

I recall my chemist teacher repeating the age old phrase "the dosage makes the poison" so often that I'm basically immune to anyone crying "X is poison". It's all about "how much?" and "over which time period?" and "where did you put it into your body?" to determine if something will kill you or cause cancer.

orwin 9y ago
True. Glyphosate opponent target the fact that everybody ingest glyphosate (and that's supposed to be bad). But the dose we ingest (at least in western europe) is too small to be really dangerous, and i think this arguent is a bad one. However, i am concerned about farmer and gardener using the product, as well as kids living near them. Most natural pesticide and herbicide show bad affect on young people brain developpement. I would be really surprised if a chemical, more potent one was harmless.
- zaarn 9y ago
  It really depends, mostly on whether or not Glyphosate can cross the Blood-Brain barrier and how easily it does. If it barely or not at all goes through then there should be less of an impact.
dozzie 9y ago
> I recall my chemist teacher repeating the age old phrase "the dosage makes the poison" [...] Indeed it's the dosage and not the substance, even if it will sound stupid when somebody on your funeral says that you were crushed by a ton of cherries.
- zaarn 9y ago
  I think I'll put it on my last will that if I was to be crushed by a truckload of cherries, the phrase "the dosage makes the poison" must be mentioned during my funeral.
redblacktree 9y ago
I haven't yet had time to properly investigate, but I have heard that wheat crops are sprayed liberally with glyphosate directly before harvest as a desiccant to make harvesting easier. (perhaps also increasing yield, I don't know) So the dose may be quite a bit higher than you'd generally expect. Also note that glyphosate is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA, which means that it can be used in any quantity. With that designation, arguments about dosage carry less weight for me. If a regulatory agency were concerned with dosages in final food products, I'd feel a lot more comfortable.
- zaarn 9y ago
  I live in Europe so things are different. As such the maximum dosage that is allowed in food is 0.1mg per kg of body weight and per day. Thusly my argument on dosages in final food products hold and I feel fairly comfortable. I suggest either petitioning the FDA to introduce food safety standards or moving to another country with food safety standards.
  - redblacktree 9y ago
    Moving is a rather drastic step. Instead, I buy USDA Organic wheat, which doesn't allow the use of glyphosate.