On 20/03/2019 11:34, wrote:
On Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 9:46:16 PM UTC-4, RichA wrote:
The average person's knowledge of science or the processes it uses
is pitiable. People cry about the innocent being convicted, they
even make TV shows about people who try to help them. But what
about products? Science-ignorant juries are one the main causes of
incorrect outcomes of lawsuits and criminal trials. Good example
is Monsanto week killer, Roundup. No evidence at ALL that it is
harmful, NONE. Yet a moron jury awards millions to someone who
contracted cancer in an age group PRONE to it naturally. I saw an
ad for some ambulance-chasing firm assuring asbestos workers that
"even if you smoked your whole life, and contracted lung-cancer,
you could be entitled to damages!" Disgusting.

If it was the characteristic mesothelioma symptoms of blue asbestos
exposure then they might well have a point. It killed Malcolm McClaren
and one of my uncles - striking some decades after initial exposure.

The case:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47633086

The science:

https://www.google.com/search?q=non-...2lEa M:&vet=1


The jury would have listened to the evidence that was presented and
made their best decision based on it. The defense must not have done
as good a job of presenting evidence as they could have.

From my point of view, all herbicides and pesticides are guilty until
proven innocent.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but I suspect there is no smoke without
fire - although whether it is the glyphosate itself or the surfactants
in the formulation that cause the trouble is still an open question.

WHO says it is carcinogenic and EFSA says it isn't. US EPA says it is OK
if used "carefully" whatever that means. Monsanto wanted everything
sprayed with it and as often as possible to sell more product.

I doubt that it is any more carcinogenic than roast coffee. But there
does seem to be a coincidence of regular users of glyphosate ending up
with similar diseases. Roundup Ready crops have a lot to answer for.

I know someone who used a lot of the stuff and has non-Hodgkin lymphoma
so I am not prepared to dismiss the possibility out of hand. What is a
little worrying is that there are ultra-traces of it in almost all grain
based products like flour and bread today. Mass spectrometry has
advanced to detect ultratrace levels of pesticides in farm produce.

Considering just how incredibly lethal glyphosate is to green plants it
is astonishingly benign in mammals (we lack the shikimic acid pathway).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown