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The article is pretty misleading. There is no substance that is absolutely safe at any level for humans. Even water will easily kill you (over-hydration is a r

The article is pretty misleading. There is no substance that is absolutely safe at any level for humans. Even water will easily kill you (over-hydration is a real risk, especially for athletes). FTA: > The EPA says glyphosate is safe up to 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, and Bayer, who now owns Monsanto, claims that its safety for consumption by humans has been proven by years of research. However, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, among many others, disagrees, and considers glyphosate a potential human carcinogen. The three claims are completely compatible, the WHO isn't disagreeing, it is simply listing as a potential carcinogen. This is actually less bad than eating salami, which is actually a known carcinogen. Regardless of the actual safety of glyphosate, the article is journalistic crap. And that's before we get into the actual amount of beer you'd have to drink to ingest any significant amount of glyphosate...

markoman 8y ago
Referencing the toxicity of water is a bit disingenuous, since the average human body is 60% water or more to begin with. Glyphosate, on the other hand, is a substance wholly artificial and foreign to the human body. Its only logical that if the substance is capable of interfering with a plant's enzyme pathway, said molecule can also have a similar role in animal hosts as well. Surely each of us is carrying more than trace amounts of this substance, unfortunately. Its used in grain crops as a pre-harvest crop desiccant, although in a way to limit residue effects. The fact that France has banned the herbicide, with other European countries considering similar bans, is something I found interesting.
- s21n 8y ago
  Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway by inhibiting the EPSP synthase enzyme. The shikimate pathway is not present in animals. European Union follows the precautionary principle, that means it would ban a substance if there's a scientific uncertainty about the substance's safety (unlike US, where you'd have to prove that it's harmful). The problem is you can never be 100% certain about any substance's safety. And it's quite easy to convince the politicians that the safety concerns are bigger than they really are by using bad science and aggressive lobbying. Even so, the France's decision to ban glyphosate was very controversial in EU.
- ucaetano 8y ago
  > Referencing the toxicity of water is a bit disingenuous, since the average human body is 60% water or more to begin with. Glyphosate, on the other hand, is a substance wholly artificial and foreign to the human body. Quite the opposite: water is the basis of our life, a substance that we all depend on. Still, it can easily kill you. It is exactly my point: no substance is entirely safe.

markoman 8y ago

Referencing the toxicity of water is a bit disingenuous, since the average human body is 60% water or more to begin with. Glyphosate, on the other hand, is a substance wholly artificial and foreign to the human body. Its only logical that if the substance is capable of interfering with a plant's enzyme pathway, said molecule can also have a similar role in animal hosts as well. Surely each of us is carrying more than trace amounts of this substance, unfortunately. Its used in grain crops as a pre-harvest crop desiccant, although in a way to limit residue effects. The fact that France has banned the herbicide, with other European countries considering similar bans, is something I found interesting.

s21n 8y ago
Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway by inhibiting the EPSP synthase enzyme. The shikimate pathway is not present in animals. European Union follows the precautionary principle, that means it would ban a substance if there's a scientific uncertainty about the substance's safety (unlike US, where you'd have to prove that it's harmful). The problem is you can never be 100% certain about any substance's safety. And it's quite easy to convince the politicians that the safety concerns are bigger than they really are by using bad science and aggressive lobbying. Even so, the France's decision to ban glyphosate was very controversial in EU.
ucaetano 8y ago
> Referencing the toxicity of water is a bit disingenuous, since the average human body is 60% water or more to begin with. Glyphosate, on the other hand, is a substance wholly artificial and foreign to the human body. Quite the opposite: water is the basis of our life, a substance that we all depend on. Still, it can easily kill you. It is exactly my point: no substance is entirely safe.